The Romanian Parliament rejected all four no-confidence motions against the government submitted by the opposition parties “Alliance for the Unity of Romanians“, “SOS Romania“ and the Youth Party, Agerpres reported.
The parliamentarians discussed each of the motions and voted on each of them separately during the seven-hour session. None of them received the 233 votes needed to dismiss the government. The parliamentarians from the ruling coalition parties did not vote, but were present in the chamber to ensure a quorum.
These opposition proposals were intended to block four packages of the government's austerity measures - health care reform, reorganization of several state institutions, reform of state-owned companies and a number of measures to improve tax efficiency. All of this is part of the second of five packages of measures to reduce the budget deficit, but the opposition has no objections to one of them - the pensions of judges and prosecutors, as well as their retirement dates. The latest bill in the Constitutional Court was challenged by the Supreme Council of the Magistracy (the body that oversees the professional activities of judges and prosecutors), and the challenge will be considered on September 24.
This package was supposed to include the sixth package of measures to reform local government, but the ruling coalition has not yet been able to reach an agreement on it.
The Social Democratic Party (SDP) opposed a significant reduction in the staff of mayors and prefectures, so the discussion of this block of measures in the coalition was postponed to September 15. The government divided the package into separate blocks so that the Constitutional Court could not reject it in its entirety if the opposition appealed.
The package was passed through parliament on September 1 through an accelerated procedure. According to it, if parliamentarians vote no confidence in the government within three days, it must resign. Otherwise, the austerity law is considered passed and the cabinet continues to work. The opposition is now expected to challenge the austerity package in the Constitutional Court.
Romania's budget deficit in 2024 is 9.3% of GDP, the highest in the EU, and as a result, the country risks losing part of its planned payments from European funds. To reduce the deficit, the government announced its intention to adopt three austerity packages by the end of the summer, but due to disputes within the ruling coalition, it was not possible to adhere to this schedule. The government's austerity measures are causing not only disagreements within the ruling coalition, but also dissatisfaction among various categories of Romanians. Protests by judges and prosecutors, city hall and prefecture employees, as well as education and healthcare workers are taking place daily across the country.