The Romanian Parliament will vote on prime minister-designate Siegfried Mureșan’s proposed government on Wednesday, September 30. The cabinet needs at least 233 votes – the majority of all deputies and senators – to take office, but Mureșan has acknowledged that he currently expects support from only around 200 lawmakers.
The joint session of the Chamber of Deputies and Senate is scheduled to begin at 13:00 with debates, followed by the confidence vote. Siegfried Mureșan will have a total of 30 minutes to address Parliament at the beginning and end of the debate.
His proposed minority government is backed by the center-right National Liberal Party (PNL), Save Romania Union (USR), and the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR). Together, the three parties control approximately 169-170 seats.
The prime minister-designate said he had also held talks with the parliamentary group representing national minorities and with unaffiliated lawmakers, according to News.ro. However, both the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the far-right Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) have announced that they will vote against the cabinet.
The 16 proposed ministers appeared before parliamentary committees on Monday and Tuesday. Eight received favorable opinions, and eight received negative ones, although the committee votes are advisory and do not determine the outcome of Wednesday’s joint session, Euronews Romania reported.
Siegfried Mureșan prepared the governing programme in five days with the three parties supporting him. It contains 372 measures, proposes 16 ministries, and includes three deputy prime ministers, each also responsible for a ministerial portfolio.
The programme largely continues the reforms pursued by former prime minister Ilie Bolojan’s administration while placing greater emphasis on economic growth.
If the cabinet secures at least 233 votes today, the government will be formally invested, and its ministers will take the oath before president Nicușor Dan before assuming office.
However, if the cabinet is rejected, Nicușor Dan is expected to hold another round of consultations and nominate a new candidate for prime minister. The rejection would also meet the constitutional conditions allowing the president to consider dissolving Parliament and calling early elections, as it would be the second proposed government rejected by lawmakers after Adrian Veștea’s cabinet failed to win confidence in June.
Dissolution would not be automatic, however, and the decision rests with the president. Dan has repeatedly said that he does not want early elections and does not view them as a solution to the political crisis.
Siegfried Mureșan is the third person proposed for prime minister since Ilie Bolojan’s government was dismissed through a no-confidence vote on May 5. Eugen Tomac, nominated on June 4, withdrew after failing to assemble a parliamentary majority, while Adrian Veștea sought Parliament’s confidence on June 22 but did not receive enough votes.
President Dan nominated Mureșan on September 17 after consultations with parliamentary parties. Romania has been governed by a caretaker administration for almost five months.
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