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Ousted by 281 votes; interim role limited to 45 days
The Romanian government, headed by Liberal (PNL) prime minister Ilie Bolojan, has collapsed after losing a no-confidence vote in Parliament on Tuesday, May 5. The motion gathered 281 votes in favor, well above the 233 votes required.
The government will now continue in an interim capacity, with limited powers, until a new executive is formed.
The Ilie Bolojan government came to power roughly 10 months ago, backed by a so-called pro-European ruling coalition made up of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), PNL, Save Romania Union (USR), and the Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR), amid a rise of the far-right side in Romania. However, PSD has repeatedly clashed with the Liberal prime minister over the fiscal measures, and finally ended up withdrawing its support for the PM and exiting the government.
The no-confidence motion, initially signed by more than 250 MPs, was submitted last week by members of the former ruling partner PSD and the far-right Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), and formally presented in Parliament by AUR Senate leader Petrișor Peiu.