Politics in Romania - 2020 Parliamentary Election
Regarding the parliamentary elections, PM Ludovic Orban said 29 June 2020 that the constitutional deadline for their organization is December 6. He added he would also consult with the leaders of the other parties on the date. The first Liberal government in post-Communist Romania was dismissed by means of a motion of no confidence. The vote was expected to expidite the country's legislative elections, previously scheduled for late 2020 or early 2021, to June 2020 at the latest. The vote was expected to expedite the country's legislative elections, previously scheduled for late 2020 or early 2021, to June at the latest.
Three months after coming to power, the Liberal Government in Bucharest, headed by Ludovic Orban [not to be confused with Victor Orban of Hungary], was dismissed. In mid October 2019, the National Liberal Party had successfully initiated a no-confidence motion against the Government then led by the Social Democratic Party, but on 05 February it was the Social-Democrats' turn to do the same, supported by the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians.
For the Orban Government to fall, a minimum of 223 favorable votes were necessary, which is half plus one out of the total number of the elected MPs. 261 MPs voted in favour of dismissing the Government. They accused the Liberal Government of violating democratic principles by assuming responsibility for reverting to the two-round election of mayors only months ahead the upcoming local elections, and for political reasons, not for the benefit of the Romanian citizens. Also, "the Orban team violated the rulings of the Constitutional Court and the recommendations made by the international institutions", reads the motion titled 'The Orban/NLP Government' - the privatization of Romanian democracy'.
Supported by the USR and PMP partners, the Liberals had argued that resuming the two-round mayoral election system, would have rendered mayors more legitimate and representative and that the change was supported by 80% of the citizens. Previously, Ludovic Orban had stated it was unlikely for the motion to pass, but reality contradicted him. Still, in preparation for a defeat, one night before, the Cabinet adopted a record number of emergency decrees, 25. One of the aforementioned documents cuts the deadline for election calling down to 45 days. It also regulates national voting on supplementary lists and extends the period of voting for the Romanian voters abroad to three days. Under the same regulations, the number of MPs representing the Romanians abroad doubled to 12.
The fall of the Orban Government under a no-confidence motion might be a first step towards early elections, as the Liberals and the country president want. However, for early elections to be held, Parliament should reject two proposals for prime-minister designate. The president of the Permanent Electoral Authority, Constantin-Florin Mituletu Buica has announced that the institution he represents has already started preparations for both local and parliamentary elections this year.
If the vote had failed, Orban's cabinet would have had a green light to reintroduce electing local officials in two rounds of voting instead of the current first-past-the-post system introduced in 2012. Both PSD and the UDMR would have stood to lose a high number of local positions if local officials will again be elected in two rounds. However, Orban's Liberals, who have upped their popularity ratings from 30 percent to some 47 percent since November, have a better chance to form a coalition government after snap polls rather than wait until regular parliamentary elections due later this year. Orban said after the vote, "The government has fallen, but it has fallen on its feet."
The opposition Social Democratic Party (PSD) had a small lead over the ruling National Liberal Party (PNL) in the elections for Romania’s Parliament, according to the exit polls presented by all the major networks in Romania on 06 December 2020, after the polls closed. PSD was credited with a score of 30.5% [a dramatic fall compared to its 2016 score – about 45%] while PNL had a little over 29%. Third was the USR-PLUS alliance, with a score of 15.9%. The big surprise comes from a relatively unknown party – AUR (the Alliance for Romanians’ Union), which scored 5.3% according to the exit polls. The party has an ultra-nationalistic, anti-Hungarian, and anti-European rhetoric. The Hungarian Democratic Union (UDMR) got 5.7% of the votes, according to the exit polls, while PRO Romania, the party of former PM Victor Ponta, and PMP, the party of former president Traian Basescu, had scores of 5%. However, it remains to be seen which of these four parties will make it past the 5% threshold and into the Parliament, given the margin for error and the fact that the Diaspora votes were not included in the exit-polls.
The results of the parliamentary elections showed no clear winner, but a center-right coalition was quickly taking shape, president Klaus Iohannis said in his first public statement after the December 6 elections. He suggested that this center-right coalition would form the new Government and that the Social Democratic Party (PSD), which took the highest score in the elections (about 30% of the total votes), will not have the political decision anymore. Prime minister Ludovic Orban, head of the National Liberal Party (PNL), announced his resignation on December 7, after his party’s defeat in the parliamentary elections one day earlier. He said he would not be nominated for another term as PM. President Klaus Iohannis appointed defense minister Nicolae Ciuca as interim prime minister until the new Parliament votes a new Government. PNL must now shake hands with the USR-PLUS alliance, which came third with just over 15% of the votes. USR-PLUS leaders have made it clear that they didn’t want Orban heading the coalition Government.
Above all, this election was "historic" because never in the 31 years since the fall of the Communist regime in 1989 have so many Romanians refrained from casting their votes. Just one in three eligible voters cast their ballots in Romania's parliamentary elections. The pandemic was not the only reason for the meager turnout. The elderly and voters with underlying medical conditions were concerned. But turnout wasn't lowest among these groups, it was lowest among people aged 18 to 24. The low voter turnout is a result of the rampant corruption and favoritism of Romania's political establishment since 1989. Romanians' trust in the state and its institutions has eroded.
The demise of the Liberal Party-led coalition threatened Romania's economic recovery and efforts to reduce large state deficits. The coalition included the junior partner USR Plus and the ethnic Hungarian group UDMR. But USR Plus, a relatively new centrist party, withdrew its ministers from the cabinet in early September 2021 in a dispute over a regional development fund. It filed a no confidence vote in parliament against Citu's government and says it will not return until Citu is no longer prime minister. USR Plus opposed a government decree to set up an $11.85 billion regional infrastructure-development-financing scheme that would give local mayors access to funds with limited oversight. Florin Citu won the leadership election of his ruling Liberal Party -- a vote seen as further reducing the chances of reuniting the fractured centrist coalition government that collapsed earlier in September. Citu secured his leadership in a vote during the Liberal Party congress on 25 September 2021. A minority government of the Liberal Party and ethnic Hungarians would need backing from the opposition leftist Social Democrats, which would likely require political concessions. The Government of centrist prime minister Florin Citu fell 05 October 2021 after the Parliament passed a no-confidence motion introduced by the Social Democrat Party (PSD). The motion passed with 281 votes in favor. It needed 234 votes to pass. The motion was backed by both the reformist USR (formerly USR-PLUS) and the radical AUR. Florin Citu had only been in power for nine months, most of which were marked by political stalemate. The prime minister accused his opponents of "plunging the country into chaos" when making his case to stay.
President Klaus Iohannis, a staunch ally of Citu, must now name a new prime minister. "Romania must be governed; we are in a pandemic, winter is coming, there is an energy price crisis...and now a political crisis. We need solutions and mature decisions," Iohannis told reporters, blaming the fall of the government on "cynical politicians, some of whom are disguised as reformists," a clear reference to the USR.
However, some think be may simply re-appoint Citu in order to tempt opposition parties into calling for fresh elections. According to current polls, the opposition PSD would be the most likely to gain in renewed elections. Iohannis invited representatives from all the parties for talks about forming a government. Citu will continue to lead on a provisional basis with reduced powers, such as not being able to make executive decrees. Per Romanian law, he is only allowed to lead an interim government for a maximum of 45 days.
USR leader Dacian Ciolos and Nicolae Ciuca, a former army general, were both asked by President Klaus Iohannis to form a government but neither could get enough support in Romania's bitterly-divided parliament.
Romania's two biggest political parties will begin talks to form a controversial coalition government to end the political stalemate that follows the ousting of Prime Minister Florin Citu on 05 October 2021. A PNL-PSD coalition would end Romania's political stalemate but would be deeply controversial within both parties and among the voting public. Between them, the PNL and the PSD, which won 30% and 25% of the vote in parliamentary elections in 2020, have enough seats to agree a coalition, likely including the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (UNDR) and other minority parties.
The president of the PSD, Marcel Ciolacu, declared, on 14 January 2023, in Zalau, that "it was the most correct decision" for the social democrats to enter the government and criticized the previous government, saying that "it was a disastrous government for two years, that government of right from Romania". The PSD leader also said that "it is necessary (...) to get totally involved in the governing act".
Romania’s Liberal (PNL) prime minister Nicolae Ciuca told journalists on 24 May 2023 that he would resign 26 May 2023, as agreed with the ruling partner - the Social Democratic Party (PSD). Swapping the position of prime minister was one of the conditions agreed upon when the Liberals and the Social Democrats decided to govern together in the autumn of 2021. The head of the Romanian Social Democrats, Marcel Ciolacu, promised that the Government rotation, under which the two major ruling partners would change seats including that of the prime minister, would go smoothly.
"I come from the people. I was born neither prime minister nor party president. And today people want a state that goes in the same direction as them. That is why we will have a government with fewer ministries, fewer secretaries of state and fewer agencies! These are common sense things that the future Government of Romania will respect!", PSD leader Marcel Ciolacu said.
Marcel Ciolacu, the Social Democratic leader, vowed to break the cycle of political upheaval that had seen 12 cabinets come and go since 2004. Marian Neac?u, secretary general of the Executive, will be promoted to deputy prime minister in the Ciolacu government, political sources claimed. Neac?u was convicted in 2016 for committing the crime of conflict of interest: he illegally employed his daughter in his parliamentary office. In addition, another criminal, Radu Oprea, sent to court for tax evasion, will take over the Ministry of Economy.
Romanian President Klaus Iohannis on 13 June 2023 designated the leader of the leftist Social Democratic Party (PSD) to form a new coalition government under a left-right deal agreed in November 2021 to avoid snap elections by rotating the premiership between PSD, the winner of the 2020 parliamentary polls, and second-placed center-right National Liberal Party (PNL). Liberal Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca handed in his mandate on June 12 in line with the agreement. The third party in the coalition, the ethnic Hungarian UDMR, said it would withdraw from the group after it was not given its previous ministerial portfolios in the new government.
The head of state said that, so far, the governing coalition had provided Romania with stability and has managed to find solutions to the major challenges it has faced. "I want the future government led by me to be about the economy and reforms. I take full responsibility for the fact that Romania needs these reforms and the PNRR. Romania's place is in the EU and NATO. No matter how much some are looking for other ways", said the Prime Minister-designate of Romania.
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