This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Romania’s prime minister has been toppled after the parliament passed a vote of no confidence tabled by his party.



Barely six months after winning elections, Sorin Grindeanu was ousted by almost all the MPs in his leftwing Social Democratic party (PSD) with the backing of their junior coalition partners, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE).

The motion of no confidence, which accused Grindeanu of delays in carrying out planned economic and social reforms in one of the EU’s poorest countries, passed by 241 votes to seven, more than the 233 required.

Despite the resignation of 25 of the 26 ministers in his cabinet, Grindeanu, who was appointed prime minister after the PSD won 46% of the vote in December’s elections, had refused to step down when his party withdrew its support last week.

He instead accused the PSD’s powerful leader, Liviu Dragnea – who is barred from running for office because of a 2016 vote-rigging conviction but continues to dominate the party – of trying to “concentrate all the power” in his hands.

“This is a sad day for us. The premier did not perform,” Dragnea told MPs before the vote on Wednesday. “It didn’t go badly, it went quite well, but that’s not enough.”

He accused Grindeanu of “clinging on … in a highly illegitimate way”.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Head of the PSD, Liviu Dragnea, waves to supporters after the vote. Photograph: Vadim Ghirda/AP

Grindeanu said he would remain in office until a new government was installed, adding that Dragnea’s influence would mean whoever replaced him as prime minister “has no chance of exercising the role”.

It was nonetheless important, Grindeanu said, “that we get out of this blockage and send a message to investors and governments around the world that Romania remains a stable and predictable environment”.

The two ruling coalition parties are expected to suggest a new prime minister to the centre-right president, Klaus Iohannis, who had previously urged the government to resolve the crisis as quickly as possible.

Talks with the president are scheduled for Monday, and Iohannis has the right to refuse a candidate. Once appointed, the new premier will have 10 days to win a vote of confidence in parliament for his cabinet and programme.

The crisis is the second to hit the PSD since it returned to power in the December poll. In February, the largest protests in Romania since the fall of communism forced the government to drop plans to water down anti-corruption laws.

The party was forced out of power in 2015 after mass protests over a deadly Bucharest nightclub fire that killed 64 people and was widely blamed on corrupt officials ignoring safety regulations.

Although its economy is growing fast at about 5.6%, the International Monetary Fund and the European commission have warned that Romania remained in urgent need of further far-reaching reform.

Analysts said Grindeanu’s departure could be linked to his alleged failure to push through the controversial anti-corruption laws – which may have allowed Dragnea to run for office despite his conviction.

“Liviu Dragnea only wants one thing – amendments to the anti-corruption laws” that prevent him from becoming premier, a former PSD member, Alin Teodorescu, told Agence France-Presse.

