Of 431 lawmakers present, 281 voted to dismiss the government — well above the 233 needed — with just four voting against. The caretaker cabinet will remain in place until a new government is formed.
The coalition collapsed after the Social Democratic Party (PSD) withdrew on April 23, stripping Bolojan of his parliamentary majority. Bolojan had refused to resign, arguing the government needed to stay in place to implement reforms required to unlock more than EUR 10 billion in EU post-pandemic recovery funds before an August deadline.
The coalition, formed in June 2025 following the election of pro-European president Nicusor Dan, had included Bolojan's center-right National Liberal Party (PNL), the PSD, the liberal USR and the Hungarian minority party UDMR. Its primary purpose was to block eurosceptic and far-right parties, including the Alliance for Romania's Unity (AUR), from taking power.
The government's unpopular austerity measures — tax hikes and spending cuts aimed at reducing the EU's highest budget deficit — had eroded PSD's voter base, with its supporters migrating to the far-right opposition. Bolojan accused PSD leader Sorin Grindeanu of lying about his party's readiness to cooperate with AUR's George Simion; PSD denied forming any meaningful alliance beyond the no-confidence vote itself.
The fall of Bolojan's government comes exactly one year after his predecessor Marcel Ciolacu resigned and PSD quit the previous coalition on May 5, 2025.
(jh)
Source: PAP