Dancila Cabinet Survives No-Confidence Vote Amid Protests
The motion of no-confidence against the Dancila Cabinet hasn’t gathered a sufficient number of votes. Only 166 MPs voted on Wednesday, the 27th of June, for the motion. In order to be passed, the motion needed 233 of votes.
The motion was submitted by the National Liberal Party, but the Liberals didn’t succeed to negotiate for a strong endorsement from all parties which exceed the ruling coalition. UDMR, the Hungarian minority party, an old collaborator of PSD in the Parliament, participated to the debates, but left the plenary session during the final vote. Not even Liberals weren’t bond together. At least three of the liberal MPs have recently abandon PNL and switched to PSD.
The vote against the motion gives PSD and the chair Liviu Dragnea, who was recently convicted to three and a half years in jail for instigating abuse in office, a new breath in the current political fight. The vote shows that there is no critical hard core within PSD in order to remove the current status quo, despite the steadily increasing discontentment against the conviction and appointment of Gabriel Vlase at External Intelligence Service (MPs will debate his candidature tomorrow, June 28th). On the other hand, the vote confirms the comfortable parliamentary majority for PSD and ALDE, without any support from Hungarian or other minorities.
Under these circumstances, the ruling coalition has all political levers to pass the Criminal Code through Emergency Ordinance, despite all warnings of the European officials. The chair Liviu Dragnea has an obedient Prime Minister and under control the Official Gazete, which was passed under subordination of the Chamber of Deputies this spring.
We remember here that PSD and ALDE amendments to the Criminal Code would help Liviu Dragnea to avoid prison and keep both offices as PSD chair and speaker of the Chamber of Deputies.
Meantime, the opposition parties launched a citizens’ initiative aimed at changing the electoral law in Romania. The main objectives of the initiative include the re-introduction of two-round elections for mayors, a lower number of MPs, more elected officials for diaspora, the introduction of voting on open lists for legislative elections and measures to combat electoral fraud. The initiative has very little chance to be passed during the current parliamentary majority.