Parliament on Tuesday defeated a no-confidence motion called “The Dancila Government must be dismissed! No emergency ordinances, no passwords, no lines for voting.”
The motion received 200 yeses, 7 noes and 3 abstentions, short of 233 yeses needed to pass.
“The no-confidence motion failed to garner the yes votes needed to pass,” said Chamber of Deputies Speaker Marcel Ciolacu.
The motion was filed and read last week in the plenary sitting by Liberal Deputy Gigel Stirbu.
The document is signed by 173 MPs belonging to the National Liberal Party (PNL), the Save Romania Union (USR), the People’s Movement Party (PMP), the Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (UDMR) and unaffiliated MPs. In order to pass, the motion needs 233 votes in favour. The voting will be secret with balls.
According to the calculations, the Opposition MPs are: 93 – PNL, 40 – USR, 17 – PMP, 30 – UDMR, and 24 – PRO Romania, with a total of 204. On the other side, the PSD has 208 MPs and ALDE 31, thus, being 239 deputies and senators of the power. There are 17 national minorities deputies, as well as 5 unaffiliated MPs.
Pro Romania Chairman Victor Ponta announced that, although the party MPs haven’t signed the motion, they will vote for it. The PSD and ALDE MPs announce that they will ensure the quorum, but they won’t vote.
Before the meeting, PNL Chairman Ludovic Orban sent a message to deputies and senators of the PSD and ALDE in which he told them that they shouldn’t remain “accomplices of this toxic regime” and they should vote for the censure motion to rehabilitate themselves in front of the Romanians.
The document shows that Romania urgently needs a government with a pro-European vision, with a maximum of 15 ministries, not 27, oriented toward the country’s priorities: education, health, public investment and attracting European funds.
The signatories of the censure motion point out that “the future government has the obligation to get involved in the implementation of a modern and current voting system that effectively allows every Romanian citizen living abroad to vote.”
“Vote for this motion, because the Romanians’ vote cannot be ignored by any politician in Romania! Tomorrow, let’s start the change for the better, let’s start building, because the country needs a competent government and much work in the interest of all!” – It is the urging of the initiators of the motion to their parliamentary colleagues.
According to the document, “the sanction against the PSD and against the Government comes directly from the citizens, who have clearly said that they no longer want a government which is unable to lead the country for the better and which has one single outright priority – permanent attacks on Justice.”
“In two and a half years, the PSD and the ALDE divided an entire country, destroyed the role of the fundamental institutions, mutilated important laws, compromised the chance to modernise the country and constantly attacked the foundations of the Romanian democracy and the rule of law. On 26 May 2019, the PSD managed to unite all of us, those home and abroad, to save our country from the PSD’s hands, and we succeeded,” the censure motion shows.
PM Dancila to the Opposition: “Do you really want to come to governing?”
The text of the no-confidence motion contains “mystification of truth” and doesn’t have not even a constructive idea that can “bring the improvement of the current act of governance” to the benefit of Romanians, Prime Minister Viorica Dancila stated on Tuesday in the debate of the censure motion called “The Dancila Government must be dismissed! No OUGs [Emergency Government Ordinances – e.n.], no access password and no queues for voting .”
“It is the third time when I come because of a censure motion and I see the same approach from the Opposition: mystification of truth, the lack of a viable solution for the Romanians and Romania, the supremacy of insults to the common sense politics. I have read the text of this censure motion in hope of finding at least a constructive idea that will bring the improvement of the act of governance to the benefit of society. I have not found it. In fact, the entire text of the censure motion shows only one thing: the Opposition’s incapacity to deliver a serious project for the good of this country. It’s obvious that you don’t represent an alternative to the governing. I’m asking you with all honesty: do you really want to come to govern, do you really want to change this government until the next elections? I know that you don’t. I haven’t seen (…) not even a beneficial measure for the Romanians, not a concrete idea about the functioning of the economy in the interests of the citizens. However, I have seen in the public statements of the leaders, many metaphors and slogans, I’ve seen that you want to cut farmers’ subsidies. (…) You want to lay people off, remove vacation vouchers, reduce and cut. What do you propose to Romanians, what will they gain by you possibly coming to governing? Slogans?,” Dancila stated in the Parliament plenary sitting.
In reality, the public debt declined from 37.3pct of GDP to 34.9pct of GDP
The public debt declined from 37.3 percent of the GDP to 34.9 percent of the GDP, Prime Minister Viorica Dancila also mentioned on Tuesday in the debate of the no-confidence motion called “The Dancila Government must be dismissed! No OUGs [Emergency Government Ordinances – e.n.], no access password and no queues for voting .”
The PM mentioned that one of the untruths written in the censure motion is that “we [the Gov’t] would have increased the debt.”
“If the debt was as high as you say, it would be seen in the budget deficit, which, during our governing, did not exceed the 3 percent threshold admitted at the Union level. Then you should admit that this debt, which you are invoking, mostly represents the refinancing of some bad, short-term loans that you made when you were in power. In reality, the public debt declined from 37.3 percent of the GDP to 34.9 percent of the GDP. We are less than half the level of indebtedness in the European Union. We currently have a debt of 34.9 percent of the GDP, compared to the European average of 80 percent of the GDP. We have the fourth lowest net debt of the GDP at Union level. This is the reality. You written in the motion that, through the amendments made by this Government, the energy bills increased. Totally false. I bring you to mind that we have taken steps to ensure that Romanians have fair and affordable tariffs for electricity and natural gas,” the head of the Executive stated in the Parliament plenary sitting.
PNL’ s Orban: Negotiations on support for no-confidence motion to continue until the time of the vote. PSD and ALDE MPs who vote for motion have the chance to redeem themselves before Romanians
PNL President Ludovic Orban stated on Tuesday morning that the negotiations on support for the no-confidence motion will continue until the time of the vote, and claimed that the PSD and ALDE parliamentarians have two options: ending their political careers by remaining the accomplices of this toxic regime or having the chance to redeem themselves before Romanian citizens by voting for the no-confidence motion.
“The negotiations will continue up until the moment of the vote and at the vote we will quantify how many actual votes the no-confidence motion will have. In what concerns us, we have the conscience of a duty done, we have done all that is up to us to make sure the no-confidence motion is backed by as many parliamentarians as possible,” Ludovic Orban stated.
The PNL leader pointed out that individual negotiations are taking place with PSD and ALDE parliamentarians.
“I once again publicly call on PSD and ALDE parliamentarians: you have two options – ending your political career by remaining the accomplices of this toxic regime for Romania or having the chance to redeem yourselves before Romanians by voting for the no-confidence motion. PSD and ALDE parliamentarians must understand that Romanians want a different Government, they no longer accept this ruling coalition, and that it is within the power of each of them to decide that the will of Romanians should be put into action,” Orban said.
Ludovic Orban underscored that “any PSD or ALDE parliamentarian who votes for the no-confidence motion will have the chance to repair their public image, to rid themselves of the last two and a half years in which they were the accomplices of a vile regime, and to be able to continue their political careers in the party whose members they are or in a different political party.”
“It is up to the individual conscience of each parliamentarian whether they will take into account what Romanians want or whether they will remain the lackeys of a regime that harms this country,” the PNL leader added.
He said that PSD parliamentarians have promised him that they will vote for the motion.
Dancila, after the motion was rejected: When filing a no confidence motion, one should convince others that what is written there is real
The no- confidence motion wasn’t treated seriously and, when filing a censure motion, one should convince others that what is written there is real, Prime Minister Viorica Dancila stated on Tuesday.
“The no- confidence motion wasn’t treated very seriously. When filing a censure motion, one should come up with something else instead, come up with a programme, with a project to present to Romania’s citizens. I have seen superficiality, insults in this censure motion, which proves that it hasn’t been treated seriously. I believe that this manner of working has to stop, if we truly treat this thing seriously. I know that democracy implies that the Opposition make use of this instrument, but when filling a censure motion, firstly, you should convince others that what is written there is real, you cannot come up with pieces of information which are not in line with reality and you should think that, if this motion passes indeed, you should have an alternative, you should come up with a Prime Minister, with a Government that you want to form. I’ve seen, 15 ministries, but they haven’t told us why they thought of 15 and not 17, why not 13? It’s obvious that it hasn’t been treated very seriously,” the PM stated after the motion was rejected by Parliament.
When asked whether or not the positive result of the motion strengthens her position within the Social Democratic Party (PSD) in view of the congress, Dancila said that it strengthens her confidence in the party colleagues and those in the alliance
“I don’t know if this thing strengthens my position, but it strengthens my belief that we are a strong alliance, that all colleagues acted unitary and we surpassed this motion through the contribution of each colleague. It strengthens my confidence in the alliance colleagues, in my colleagues of the PSD,” she stated.
