The no-confidence motion will be debated and voted in Parliament next Thursday, the Joint Standing Bureaus of Parliament have decided.
The announcement was made by the leader of PRO Romania, Victor Ponta.
He specified that the censure motion will be read in the Legislature’s plenary session this week, in Thursday’s sitting.
“We have the motion read tomorrow and debated and voted on next Thursday, October 10,” said Ponta, after the sitting of the Standing Bureaus.
The Joint Standing Bureaus of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies convened again on Wednesday to establish the schedule of the censure motion, after Parliament’s plenary session for the reading of the censure motion was suspended following the rejection of the working program and of the agenda.
Parliament’s sitting on Wednesday for the reading of the censure motion was suspended, after the program and agenda were rejected by 182 votes “in favour” and 194 “against”.
The Deputy Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Florin Iordache, closed the meeting, as the program and agenda were rejected by this vote.
The program of debate of the censure motion was the subject of disputes between the Opposition and the Social Democratic Party (PSD).
At the beginning of the sitting, the leader of the Liberal deputies, Raluca Turcan, requested, in Parliament’s plenary session, the change of schedule, so that the censure motion should not be debated and voted on Saturday, but on Monday, at 4:00 hrs, arguing that never in 30 years has a motion of censure been voted on Saturday or Sunday.
Speaker Ciolacu: Mathematically, the majority was lost. Vote on motion not on Saturday
The chairman of the Chamber of Deputies, Social Democrat Marcel Ciolacu stated on Wednesday that “mathematically” the majority in Parliament was lost, through the fact that the day’s agenda for the session in which the reading of the censure motion was to take place was not approved.
“Mathematically, the majority was lost, today’s agenda was not approved. There will be a new session of the joint standing bureaus of the two chambers, a new schedule will be done and we re-enter constitutional logic. If the group leaders and the speakers of both houses agree, meaning myself and Mr. Melescanu, it’s possible. But at the last standing bureau meeting we decided that we will have a session on Monday,” said Ciolacu.
Asked if the vote on the motion will still be held on Saturday, as it was established by the Parliament’s leadership, Ciolacu said no.
“It’s done now, it’s no longer possible on Saturday, because constitutionally you need three days,” he explained.
In what regards the possibility that Viorica Dancila resign this moment, Marcel Ciolacu claimed that the removal of a government is done through censure motion.
“The removal of a government is done through censure motion. There was a vote on the day’s agenda. The government will leave when the censure motion passes,” the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies stated.
