Romania's Parliament Votes to Bring Down Government

(MENAFN) Romania's bicameral parliament voted Tuesday to bring down Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan's government in a decisive no-confidence motion, setting the stage for a politically turbulent period in one of the European Union's largest member states.

The joint parliamentary session, which convened at 11 a.m. with 431 of the chamber's 464 members present, produced 288 cast ballots — three of which were ruled invalid — leaving 285 valid votes. Of those, 281 favored dismissal and just 4 opposed it, comfortably clearing the constitutional threshold of 233 votes required to topple the administration.

Under Romania's constitution, the Bolojan government transitions immediately into a caretaker administration, stripped of the authority to issue emergency ordinances or introduce new legislation, and confined strictly to routine governmental functions. The interim arrangement cannot extend beyond 45 days, after which political parties must either install a new government or face a snap election.

Social Democratic Party (PSD) President Sorin Grindeanu, whose party spearheaded the motion, projected a willingness to move swiftly, saying after the dismissal that the PSD is prepared "to have a government quickly," adding that "all options are open."

Not all lawmakers shared that optimism. Catalin Predoiu, first vice president of the National Liberal Party (PNL), told local broadcaster Digi24 that the political crisis should never have materialized and urged continued inter-party dialogue to resolve the impasse.

Taking a sharper stance, Dominic Fritz, president of coalition member Save Romania Union (USR), announced via social media that his party would "neither let the PSD and the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) drag Romania back to the past, nor enter into negotiations with the PSD to form a new government."

Bolojan, a PNL figure who assumed office in June 2025, faced mounting resistance almost from the outset. His administration's aggressive austerity agenda and plans to sell off strategic state-owned assets alienated the PSD — the largest party in the original governing coalition — which withdrew its ministers and demanded his resignation in April. Rebuffed by Bolojan, the PSD joined forces with major opposition blocs and independent lawmakers to formally table the no-confidence motion in late April, culminating in Tuesday's vote.

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