Will Romania's parliament bring down the government?
Romania's parliament is voting today on a motion of no confidence that could spell the end for the coalition government. The far-right opposition group AUR tabled the motion together with the Social Democrats (PSD), who were part of the ruling coalition until recently. They accuse Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan of the National Liberal Party of imposing excessive austerity measures. The country has one of the highest budget deficits in the EU.
Stepping down could pave way for Bolojan 2.0
Deutsche Welle’s Romanian service puts in:
“An opinion poll conducted in May found that almost 60 percent of Romanians believe the prime minister should resign. … But what can a head of government do when they have neither public support nor a parliamentary majority? If he loses his post as prime minister and his PNL party becomes the opposition without sacrificing him, Bolojan could become a kind of Margaret Thatcher. He could rebuild his party and grow it to such a size that it creates the conditions for a Bolojan 2.0 government in the 2028 elections.”
EU funding at risk
Unless Romania continues with its austerity measures, the EU may suspend subsidies, fears Cristian Pantazi, editor-in-chief of G4.Media.ro blog:
“Why is this a risk? Because Romania's excessive budget deficit has led the European Commission to initiate proceedings against the country, which could result in the suspension of EU funds, among other measures. ... The PSD and AUR's main accusations against Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan are precisely his measures aimed at curbing the deficit. It is therefore to be expected that a government led by the PSD, or a PSD-AUR coalition, would abandon these austerity measures. And that would automatically lead to the issue of suspending EU funds being raised once again.”