The no-confidence motion “Romania cannot be confiscated. We defend democracy and the Romanians’ vote” is due to be debated and voted for on Wednesday in the plenary sitting of the Senate and the Deputies’ Chamber.

The document was presented on Sunday in the sitting of the reunited chambers by the Social Democratic Party (PSD) – major at rule) Senator Mihai Fifor.

The motion is initiated by PSD and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE) parliamentarians against the Government headed by Sorin Grindeanu.

In order to be adopted, at least 233 votes “in favour” are needed. The vote will be secret and shall be cast by means of balls.

PSD and ALDE parliamentarians claim in the motion that two of the 27 members of the Government, voluntarily under the command of one deputy, are sharing ministerial positions and launch ridiculous attacks in all directions.

“Demonstrating contempt towards the democratic rules of the state’s institutions functioning, immaturity and political irresponsibility, the Prime Minister and one of his ministers, instead of observing the investiture vote and the trust bestowed in them by Parliament, understood that governing can be carried out as a personal matter, that constitutional and legal provisions are facultative and they can defy the vote granted by citizens and democracy. Two of the 27 Gov’t members, placing themselves voluntarily under the command of one deputy, high-ranking official, are sharing the ministerial positions and are launching ridiculous attacks in all directions, exhibiting an unwelcome and mind-blowing caricature of the governing act. The only thing the Ponta-Grindeanu-Jianu ‘Government’ achievement, is to prove that there are politicians who have lost their common sense compass, their honour and dignity, confirming one more time the PSD and ALDE leaders’ righteousness in their decisions to withdraw political support,” reads the text.

The censure motion was submitted in parliament after the PSD-ALDE governing coalition withdrew political support of Grindeanu’s Government and the premier refused to resign.

PSD leadership holds emergency meeting with party MPs, after UDMR refuses to back no-confidence motion. Ponta-Grindeanu camp is optimistic and convinced that the motion will fail

After UDMR’s refusal to back the no-confidence motion, on Tuesday afternoon the PSD leadership summoned the party’s MPs for new talks, in order to see on how many MPs it can rely during Wednesday’s vote of the no-confidence motion filed against the Grindeanu Government.

This was the second meeting with the party’s MPs in 48 hours.

Meanwhile, Social Democratic Party (PSD) leader Liviu Dragnea is preparing to nominate a new Premier. According to PSD sources, Liviu Dragnea has already made a list of options for the Premier’s office.

PSD President Liviu Dragnea has eight names that will be presented to PSD’s National Executive Committee, the body that will elect the future nominee for the Premier’s office.

On the other hand, the Ponta-Grindeanu camp is optimistic and convinced that the motion will fail.

The main ruling Social Democratic Party (PSD)’s Chairman Liviu Dragnea said on Tuesday night he is realistic as regards the odds for the no confidence motion to pass.

“I’m being realistic. The censure motion will pass tomorrow,” Dragnea told the journalists about how he feels on the no confidence motion vote due on Wednesday in the Parliament, against Grindeanu government.

The PSD leader was present at an informal reunion at a Bucharest hotel, alongside the larger leadership of his party, members of the National Executive Committee, MPs, county organisations’ heads, outgoing ministers of the Grindeanu Cabinet, as well as leaders of the minor ruling Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE), headed fronted by this party’s leader, and Senate President, Calin Popescu-Tariceanu.

Upon his arrival, when asked how he sees the censure motion vote considering the failure of the negotiations with the Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (UDMR) earlier in the day, Dragnea said: “At its very beginning, the majority was not set with the UDMR.

Tariceanu: We have a majority for the motion

Senate’s Speaker, Calin Popescu-Tariceanu, stated on Tuesday that the negotiations with UDMR have been stopped, and each party will follow its own agenda. As for the majority, Tariceanu claims that there are no questions about it from the government coalition.

“We didn’t fight, we separated ourselves in very good relations, but each of us will follow our own agenda” Tariceanu stated.

The Senate’s Speaker explained that the laws initiated by UDMR couldn’t be voted in the Senate’s plenary session in a short time, an analysis being necessary.

“It’s not about compromises, but such a law, or all of the three laws must be very well conceived, settled, analyzed, and the decisions must not be taken under time pressure. (…) We had all the availability, but in front of the large volume, we figured out that we cannot manage these issues in such a short time. We stopped”.

Tariceanu also announced that there are talks with all the parties in the case of the censure motions, and in this case, the government coalition has an undoubted majority.

“We have a figure that we announced to you. We have a good and hard majority in order for the motion to pass. (…) We’ve made also the reverse calculation. We know who those who will vote against the motion are, therefore we assured that things are ok” Tariceanu stated.

Asked about the number of the dissidents inside the coalition, the Senate’s Speaker said that they are around 16 or 17.

Ponta: Without UDMR’s votes, the no-confidence motion won’t pass; 13 PSD MPs won’t vote for it

Government Secretary General Victor Ponta stated on Tuesday, at the Palace of Parliament, that the no-confidence motion against the Grindeanu Government will not pass the joint plenum of the two Houses of Parliament, considering that UDMR does not endorse it and 13 PSD MPs will not vote in favour.

“Had they secured the votes, they wouldn’t have made this huge mistake with last evening’s negotiations. UDMR demanded what they’ve been demanding in the last 16 years, UDMR is not at fault, but they shot the silver bullet, they took UDMR’s votes and after that you saw that UDMR is not participating and it’s very good that they’re not, just as no other party is participating, which is normal, because it’s an internal battle within PSD. You don’t interfere in other people’s battles, because you don’t like others interfering in your internal battles either. I’m convinced that 13 votes will surely lack. You can’t topple your own Government by negotiating each vote,” Ponta stated.

The Secretary General added that his message for the members of PSD is that they still have 19 hours to find a “rational” solution.

“I’m explaining to all of my colleagues that 19 hours are left to reach a rational solution; after that it’s no longer possible, because after that either the motion will be rejected – which is obvious without UDMR’s votes – and then we’ll have a Government in office at least until September-October, but one at odds with its own party, or the motion will pass and then everything will be in the hands of Mr Iohannis, nothing in our hands,” Victor Ponta concluded.

Ponta was at the Palace of Parliament on Tuesday, at the office he has as chairman of the Lower Chamber’s European Affairs Committee, where he was joined by Daniel Constantin, Eugen Teodorovici, Sorin Campeanu, Mircea Banias, Alin Vacaru.

Daniel Constantin: I believe critical mass has been reached for the motion to fail

Lower Chamber lawmaker Daniel Constantin stated on Tuesday, after his talk with Victor Ponta, that “the critical mass has been reached” at this moment for the no-confidence motion to fail, but he did not want to reveal the number of ruling coalition MPs who are siding with Sorin Grindeanu.

Asked how could a Government govern with the backing of 20 MPs at most, Daniel Constantin said: “You’ll see tomorrow what the backing will be and we’ll discuss after that how it could govern. One way or another, there were situations before too, we’ll discuss this at the appropriate moment.”

In what concerns the fact that Eugen Teodorovici attended the talks with Ponta, Teodorovici having previously announced he would vote for the motion, Constantin said that “some things are beyond political activity.”

“We can’t stop saluting ourselves on the hallways of Parliament. We discuss, debate what happens in politics, but this doesn’t mean we’re trying to convince Mr Teodorovici to join one side or the other. He has his own convictions, we saw they are very strong and each one maintains his political convictions,” he said.

Constantin also stated that Grindeanu’s supporters did not call their MPs to convince them no to vote for the motion.

“We didn’t busy ourselves, like Mr Tariceanu and Mr Dragnea did, with calling people, promising offices, doing certain things. I’m doing this out of conviction. The talks we had, we had them out of conviction and they were primarily generated by MPs that called us and said: “we do not agree with this either.” You can’t topple your own Government, we can’t continue with this manner of politicking. Nobody wants to relate to a single person anymore, whether we are talking about the ALDE President, whether we are talking about the PSD President. They all want to change, to be participants in decision-making. (…) These are the parliamentarians’ dissatisfactions. That last-hour negotiation has intervened now too, and, you know how the saying goes, give someone power to see who he really is. This sums up what the two have done in yesterday’s negotiations, putting absolutely anything on the table, showing us they are capable of doing anything only to keep power, only not to lose certain privileges. (…) You can’t agree, in two hours, to something that has been discussed for 16 years. These are fundamental things,” Daniel Constantin added.

How other parliamentary parties have positioned themselves so far

USR will not take part in no-confidence vote: A circus, a battle between thieves and incompetents

USR’s leadership decided on Saturday that the party’s MPs will not take part in the vote on the no-confidence motion against the Grindeanu Government, the party’s leaders labeling the situation “a circus that has occurred between two gangs, a battle between thieves and incompetents.”

“USR will not take part in the vote on the no-confidence motion, because we consider that this is a circus that has occurred between two gangs, more precisely between Dragnea and Grindeanu. We don’t want to intervene in this circus. Citizens are not present in this debate. It’s a battle between thieves and incompetents and we don’t want to take part in their internal struggle,” USR acting President Elek Levente stated.

He pointed out that the members of USR’s Political Committee did not decide whether the party’s MPs will not show up for the meeting in which the motion will be put up for vote or whether they will show up but abstain.

“USR will not take part in any discussion about joining the Government or anything else of this kind. USR considers that, at this moment, holding snap elections is the only honourable option, considering that PSD lost its moral credibility and can no longer form a Government,” Elek Levente added.

PNL MPs will abstain. MPs representing the ethnic minorities’ group will vote as they see fit

PNL President Ludovic Orban stated on Monday that PNL MPs will be present at the meeting in which the no-confidence motion will be put up for vote but will abstain, stating that the continuation of the political crisis can have serious consequences for Romania and that the Liberals have decided not to interfere in “PSD’s settling of scores”.

“The Political Bureau meeting took place today, meeting in which we debated the party’s position on the no-confidence motion that PSD tabled against PSD. We took the decision for PNL MPs to be present in the hall and abstain. The mafia-like settling of scores within PSD, which has nothing to do with the country’s interest, has generated a political crisis with grave consequences for Romania’s image in the world, for the economy and for society. We challenge the Government to put an end to this crisis that they provoked out of obscure interests and for objectives that we cannot understand,” PNL President Ludovic Orban stated.

Ludovic Orban stated that PNL will not interfere in the settling of scores between the “two PSD clans”.

“Today we are in the situation in which an imposter is abusively occupying the Victoria Palace, and we don’t know if in Parliament there is still a majority that would be in line with the will expressed by citizens. The perpetuation of the political crisis may have grave consequences for Romania; consequently, we’ve decided, as political party, not to interfere in this settling of scores between two clans from within PSD, because we are against both the Dragnea clan and the Ponta-Grindeanu clan,” Orban added.

Orban: I trust PNL MPs will respect the position on the motion. We’re discussing

PNL President Ludovic Orban stated on Monday that he is confident all PNL MPs will respect PNL’s position on the no-confidence motion, stating he will hold a meeting with them later that day and that he was not contacted by “the old reds’ farmers’ co-op” for negotiations.

“I trust all PNL MPs, I trust they will respect the party’s political position (…) and the will of the citizens who voted them and sent them in Parliament. (…) At 2.30 p.m., I convened a meeting with all PNL lawmakers. (…) I’m confident there will be no sanctions because all PNL lawmakers will respect the party’s decision. PNL is in the Opposition, I will no longer allow any under-the-table negotiation, any backstage negotiation and no game rigging with the ruling party,” PNL President Ludovic Orban stated.

The PNL leader added that nobody from “the old reds’ farmers’ co-op” contacted him for negotiations.

MP Pambuccian: National minority MPs will attend no-confidence vote; act as they see fit

The MPs representing national minorities will attend the no-confidence vote session and act as they see fit, group leader Varujan Pambuccian said Monday.

“First of all, we have started from the clear premise that this is not our war in the least. This is an intestine war between two factions of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) that is surely engulfing the entire political scene. We have not started it; we had no contribution to it. Consequently, the group has decided that each of its members will act as he or she sees fit. All of us will be there because absence is a form of voting and none of us will know how our colleagues vote. All of them will surely vote either for, or against or will abstain,” said Pambuccian.

He went on to say that none of the group’s MPs will know how his/her colleagues will vote, and so the group is protected.

“None of us, me included, will know how the other colleagues vote, so that the group may be protected when passing through a tribulation that is no fault of it. This is a small group that has its own purposes that are not in the least connected to the big political fights and that has to be as well protected as possible and it should get out of such fights as well as possible,” added Pambuccian.

He said national minority lawmakers usually do not cast ballots in no-confidence votes, but this time any gesture would have been misconstrued as support for one side or the other, given that this is “an all-out fight.”

Pambuccian said he was phoned by PSD national leader Liviu Dragnea, former PSD national leader Victor Ponta and national leader of the Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (UDMR) Kelemen Hunor.

“Mr Dragnea, Mr Ponta and Mr Kelemen have all phoned me these days, and I told them that I did not have any formal or informal talks with either of the rebellious faction leaders. I asked them for talks with one leader of each of the two factions, whom I told what I told you I expect to happen. What happened is the group agreed on this formula and here we are in the most neutral formula,” added Pambuccian.

He said he had not talked to embattled Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu yet.

“I talked to Mr Ponta on the phone as representing Grindeanu. I met Mr Jianu for talks and I also had a conversation with my colleague, PSD Secretary General Marian [Neacsu] and that was all,” said Pambuccian.

The laws negotiated by PSD with UDMR, withdrawn from the Senate’s agenda . UDMR will not attend censure motion voting </s> The no-confidence motion against the Grindeanu Government will undergo a Parliament vote today starting 11 AM.

If it passes, the Government will be replaced. For this to happen, 233 MPs out of a total of 464 need to support the motion.

This is a premiere for Romanian politics, as the governing coalition is trying to remove its own Government.

The current crisis began last week, after Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu refused to resign, although the Government had lost the governing coalition support.

The Social-Democratic Party (PSD) and its ally ALDE have in total 244 MPs in the Parliament. The majority of them are expected to vote in favour of this motion. The number of MPs who support Grindeanu is hard to estimate, given the recent rift inside the ruling party.

PSD leader Liviu Dragnea said that the party decided to withdraw support for Grindeanu as he failed to implement most of the measures provided in the governing program. Critics, however, have argued that Dragnea is trying to name a more obedient PM. </s> Ruling Romanian party stages vote of no confidence and topples prime minister who has been in office just six months

Romanian Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu has been ousted after a vote of no confidence organised by the chairman of his own ruling Social Democratic Party (PSD).

Liviu Dragnea, the PSD chairman, managed to muster 241 out of 251 votes in favour of his motion in parliament on Wednesday.

There were 233 votes needed to force a new government in Bucharest.

Speaking to the press after the no-confidence vote, Grindeanu said he would "carry on with his duties as caretaker prime minister in accordance to Romanian law until a new cabinet will be sworn in".

"I will also remain a member of the PSD because I do not change my mind overnight," Grindeanu added, even though the party's ruling body had already decided to cancel his membership.

Romania was thrown into a deep political crisis after Grindeanu and Dragnea had a falling-out last week.

Dragnea then called on all cabinet members to hand in their resignations in order to force Grindeanu to step down.

The prime minister refused to abide by his party chairman's orders, thus forcing a first in Romanian post-communist history: a ruling party voting its own government out of office.

The opposition parties were present, but did not cast any vote, accusing the PSD of turning an internal dispute between Dragnea and Grindeanu into a parliamentary matter.

Speaking in parliament, Dragnea said after "six months in office the government is faring OK-ish. We didn't win 45 percent of the popular vote to settle for that".

He was referring to a government performance review that allegedly found it had failed to uphold an ambitious governing programme.

The review stated that 60 percent of promises made during the election campaign in 2016 had not been fulfilled and that almost 30 percent had only partially been implemented. For his part, Grindeanu disputed the document.

OPINION: Romania - The second fall of Ceausescu

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis has been informed about the parliamentary vote and has already called for political consultations on Monday in order to form a new cabinet.

In January, the president rejected the PSD's first appointee for the prime minister's job, Sevil Shhaideh, who would have been Romania's first woman head of cabinet and first Muslim head of cabinet. Grindeanu, the PSD's second choice, was then appointed prime minister.

Following December's elections, Iohannis refused to name Dragnea as prime minister, citing a prior criminal conviction for voter fraud. Dragnea is now Speaker of the House.

Before Wednesday's parliamentary vote, Iohannis said he would not "ignore last year's criteria. I will not name anything else than a prime minister with proven integrity".

According to the Romanian constitution, the president is not obliged to name a prime minister from the ruling coalition.

The appointee is tasked with forming a cabinet, but then has to pass a vote in parliament.

During the debate, Grindeanu told MPs that the no-confidence motion would be a huge mistake.

"With each vote you cast against this government, the PSD risks losing the PM post. There is no guarantee that President Iohannis will name another PSD member in my place," he said.

Grindeanu went on to warn MPs that "no matter who takes my job, Dragnea will not let him or her exercise the office of prime minister". </s> BUCHAREST - Romania's Social Democrats stepped back from a potential constitutional crisis Wednesday by making a second proposal for prime minister after their first choice was rejected by the president. "We have decided not to plunge the country into a new political crisis... As a result we have decided to make a new proposal," PSD chief Liviu Dragnea said after a meeting of his left-wing party.

The new candidate is Sorin Grindeanu, a 43-year-old former communications minister. The PSD's first choice was Sevil Shhaideh, who would have been Romania's first female and first Muslim premier. President Klaus Iohannis rejected Shhaideh, who is from Romania's small and well-established Turkish minority, on Tuesday. Iohannis gave no reason for his decision but there was speculation that Shhaideh's Syrian husband's background was the decisive factor. Dragnea, who cannot stand as premier himself because of a conviction, threatened on Tuesday to initiate proceedings to suspend Iohannis.

But on Wednesday Dragnea walked back on the threat, saying such action would be "irresponsible".

The PSD won a thumping election victory on December 11, barely a year after a deadly nightclub fire forced it from office. Together with the ALDE party it has a majority in parliament. </s> BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Romania’s prime minister and his government have been ousted in a no-confidence vote submitted by ruling party members.

A total of 241 lawmakers approved the motion Wednesday, more than the 233 votes required. The governing Social Democratic Party filed the motion to oust Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu, saying that he had failed to implement the party’s political agenda.

Grindeanu had refused to resign and rejects the assessment of his performance. He claims powerful party leader Liviu Dragnea wants to remove him to have a party loyalist as premier.

Dragnea is barred from being prime minister because of a 2016 conviction for vote-rigging. </s> Romania’s five-month-old Social Democrat (PSD) government defeated a parliamentary motion of no-confidence on Wednesday while thousands rallied outside to demand its resignation.

The centrist opposition called the vote, accusing the cabinet of prime minister Viorica Dancila and the ruling party of trying to weaken anti-corruption laws and institutions.

It followed a preliminary jail sentence handed down on PSD chief Liviu Dragnea last week for graft offences. Dragnea holds a tight grip on the party and is seen as the de-facto government head and architect of its policy.

The move to topple the government was doomed to fail. Only 166 deputies from the fragmented opposition supported the motion, well short of the 233 votes – 50 per cent of deputies plus one – required under the constitution for no-confidence motions to succeed.

The PSD and its small ally Alde – which together hold 249 of the 465 seats in parliament – did not vote, confident that the opposition would fail to reach the threshold.

About 4,000 people chanted outside parliament during the debate, blowing whistles and vuvuzela horns.

Raluca Turcan, deputy president of the centrist National Liberal Party, accused the PSD of undermining a European Union-backed drive to tackle corruption. “Today’s motion has been about the dismissal of Dragnea’s regime and his declaration of war against the European Union, ” she told parliament.

In a speech frequently interrupted by opposition legislators shouting “Resignation! Resignation!, Ms Dancila, the prime minister, denounced the attempt to topple her government as “lacking rational arguments, logic and any realistic reasoning”.

PSD lawmakers have pushed a judicial overhaul through parliament that effectively puts magistrates under political control. It also changes the penal handbook that could affect thousands of criminal cases, risking a deeper rift between eastern and western EU members.

Both legal changes are on hold pending challenges filed to the constitutional court, but PSD deputies had said they expected to approve them by mid-July.

Arguments about how to fight corruption in one of Europe’s most graft-prone states have dominated Romanian politics since its 2007 EU entry and magistrates have often complained of political pressures.

Dragnea, who is also speaker of the lower house of parliament, was found guilty by the supreme court last week of keeping two women on the payroll of a state agency in 2006-2013 even though they were employed by his party.

Romania’s most powerful politician, he has repeatedly denied all the charges and is expected to appeal the verdict, which relates to when he was a county council chief. – Reuters </s> Romanian President Klaus Iohannis on Friday named social-democrat Sorin Grindeanu as the nation’s new prime minister, bringing to a close weeks of uncertainty since the left won a parliamentary vote on December 11.

The centre-right president has signed a decree naming Grindeanu, a 43-year-old former communications minister, as the new premier.

Grindeanu now faces a confidence vote in parliament on his programme and cabinet nominees.

The nomination sought to put an end to a political crisis in Romania sparked when after Iohannis rejected a previous candidate who would have been the country’s first female and first Muslim prime minister.

The president offered no reasons for his rejection of Sevil Shhaideh, initially put forward by the Social Democrats (PSD), but there was speculation that it was due to her Syrian husband’s background.

Shhaideh, 52, who has only five months ministerial experience, is from Romania’s small and long-established Turkish minority, but her Muslim faith is not thought to have been the problem.

The PSD had proposed the previously little-known Shhaideh after its thumping poll victory on December 11 when it won 45 percent of the vote, enough to form a majority coalition with its partners ALDE.

PSD leader Liviu Dragnea had withdrawn his own bid to become prime minister because of a conviction that bars him from office.

The PSD’s election triumph came barely a year since anger over a deadly nightclub fire that killed 64 people forced it from office.

The inferno was blamed on corruption — something Brussels has long complained about since Romania joined the EU in 2007. </s> Romania’s president on Friday named social-democrat Sorin Grindeanu as the nation’s new prime minister, bringing to a close weeks of uncertainty since the left won a parliamentary vote on December 11. The centre-right president Klaus Iohannis signed the official decree naming Grindeanu, a 43-year-old former communications minister, as the new premier. Grindeanu now faces a confidence vote in parliament on his programme and cabinet nominees.

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The nomination sought to put an end to a political crisis sparked when Iohannis rejected a previous candidate who would have been the country’s first female and first Muslim prime minister.

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The president offered no reasons for his rejection of Sevil Shhaideh, initially put forward by the Social Democrats (PSD), but there was speculation that it was due to her Syrian husband’s background.

Sources close to the president had indicated yesterday that Grindeanu was considered a “better solution.”

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He is seen in Romania as a “disciplined soldier” within the PSD ranks and said himself in a recent interview that he had joined the party very young as an outlet for his leftist convictions. The PSD had proposed the previously little-known Shhaideh after its thumping poll victory on December 11 when it won 45 per cent of the vote, enough to form a majority coalition with its partners ALDE.

Shhaideh, 52, who has only five months ministerial experience, is from Romania’s small and long-established Turkish minority, but her Muslim faith is not thought to have been the problem.

Instead the focus was likely on her husband, 54, who worked in the Syrian agriculture ministry for 20 years before emigrating to Romania in 2011 and marrying Shhaideh the same year, according to the PSD.

Website HotNews cited unnamed sources as saying that the security services had “strongly cautioned” against Shhaideh’s nomination because of the closeness of her husband and his two brothers to President Bashar al-Assad regime.

This might have made giving Shhaideh the necessary security clearances to be the NATO member’s prime minister problematic. PSD leader Liviu Dragnea had withdrawn his own bid to become prime minister because of a conviction that bars him from office.

On Tuesday after Shhaideh’s rejection, Dragnea said the PSD was considering its options including moving to suspend Iohannis or going to the constitutional court. “In our opinion the president is determined to set off a political crisis,” Dragnea had warned. “If our conclusion is that it is in the country’s interest to suspend Mr Iohannis, I won’t hesitate.”

However, any attempt by the PSD to remove the head of state would have been problematic because Iohannis was entitled to request a second proposal for premier. </s> Romania was thrown into fresh political crisis Monday as the second prime minister in a year said he would resign “tonight or tomorrow morning” after losing his Social Democrat party’s support.

Mihai Tudose’s resignation comes amid growing tensions with PSD leader Liviu Dragnea, who cannot be prime minister because of a suspended jail sentence he received for rigging a referendum.

Tudose took over in June 2017, after his predecessor Sorin Grindeanu was ousted by the PSD and its junior coalition partner ALDE, who argued that Grindeanu had fallen behind schedule implementing a reform program.

“The party decided that there is a need for a new government, with a new approach,” Tudose told reporters after leaving a party leadership meeting on Monday evening in Bucharest. The deputy prime minister, Paul Stănescu, will become interim prime minister on Tuesday, he said.

PSD will hold a leadership meeting on Tuesday morning to come up with a new nomination for leader, Dragnea said, adding that he wouldn’t make the choice himself.

Asked about the reasons behind Tudose losing support, Dragnea said “there was a conflict between the party and the government, and inside the government as well.”

In recent weeks the prime minister had clashed with the interior minister, Carmen Dan, a close ally of Dragnea. Dan wanted Tudose to sack the head of the Romanian police over the case of a policeman accused of pedophilia. Tudose refused to do so and suggested that Dan resign.

PSD and ALDE will now have to nominate a new prime minister, with the choice needing the approval of Romanian President Klaus Iohannis. It will be third time he will have had to approve a prime minister since December 2016 elections.

PSD won some 46 percent in those elections on promises of tax cuts and increased wages and pensions. A year on, many of those promises have not been realized, and a decision to shift the burden of social security contributions onto employees caused mass protests last year.

Last year the country was rocked by the biggest protests since the fall of communism when people took to the streets to protest against an emergency decree that would have decriminalized some acts of corruption. The government eventually withdrew the decree, but the parliament last year passed other changes to judiciary laws that opponents feel may impact the justice system’s work on corruption.
After a short term political crisis, started when the governing PSD retracted its support, the Parliament of Romania passes a no confidence motion against the government led by former PSD Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu.