Page 12 - bne IntelliNews weekly newspaper June 23

Southeast Europe
June 23, 2017 www.intellinews.com I Page 12
Romania’s ruling coalition overthrows dissident PM
bne IntelliNews
Romania’s parliament on June 21 endorsed by 241 votes, compared to the 233 needed, a motion sub- mitted by the ruling coalition against the govern- ment that it appointed just four months earlier.
The overthrow of Sorin Grindeanu – whose fate was sealed when he fell out with the powerful PSD chair- man Liviu Dragnea, who covets the post of PM but cannot assume the post because of a suspended jail sentence for attempts to rig a 2012 referendum – is likely to cause further political stagnation until a replacement can be found. The political crisis has shown the coalition’s weak ruling capacity, putting a major question mark over its ability to perform in the coming three years and, in the short term, com- plicating the formation of a new government.
There were 10 votes against the no-confidence motion, titled “Romania cannot be confiscated! We are defending democracy and Romanians’ votes!”, which was presented to the parliament on June 18, and reportedly backed by more than 200 MPs from the senior ruling Social Democratic Party (PSD) and its coalition partner, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (Alde).
The dissenting votes were most likely from MPs rep- resenting Romania’s national minorities. Other op- position MPs from the National Liberal Party (PNL), Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR) and Save Romania Union (USR) did not vote, and the UDMR was also absent from the debate.
The vote was secret (using black and white balls), but the ruling parties asked their MPs to disclose their choice by showing the balls before placing them in the boxes, to make sure they followed the party line.
Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu said PSD leader Liviu Dragnea had expressed trust in all the ministers until the very day he decided to replace the government.
“[Passing the motion] means that the ruling coali- tion of the PSD-Alde coalition continues, in line with the vote of the Romanians last December,” PSD leader Dragnea told the parliament after the vote.
“The government has not performed badly, rather well – but not well enough,” he added, explaining the reasons that made him replace Grindeanu.
In his turn, Grindeanu outlined the economic performance of his government, and stressed that the motion opens the door for political instability.
“I accepted the ministers proposed by Dragnea... and after six months I learn [from Dragnea] that they are good, but not good enough,” he told MPs. He also claimed that Dragnea had expressed trust in all the ministers until the very day he decided to replace the government.
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”.
With the vote out of the way, Dragnea is expected to appoint a low-profile candidate who would act as a de-facto interim prime minister until he removes the obstacles blocking his own path to the PM's seat. The names circulated recently are those of Labour Minister Lia Olguta Vasilescu and Interior Minister Carmen Dan, but on the day of the vote the name of Florin Georgescu – a former deputy central bank governor who is close to the PSD – was also mentioned. While politicians other than Vasilescu and Dan might be nominated, Georgescu remains a remote option because he is likely to object to the party's expansive fiscal plans.