Romanian lawmakers set to vote on new center-right Cabinet as political crisis drags on

BUCHAREST, Romania -- Lawmakers in Romania are set to vote Wednesday on a new center-right Cabinet proposed by Prime Minister-designate Siegfried Muresan, who seeks to end a monthslong political crisis.

Muresan, 45, has proposed what he describes as a “reform-oriented” governing program under his center-right National Liberal Party, or PNL, but is widely expected to fall short of the 233 votes needed to form a majority government in the European Union country.

Muresan, a European Parliament member, has secured support from about 170 lawmakers and held “extremely productive” discussions with minority groups and independent parliamentarians, he said in an interview with The Associated Press at the Palace of Parliament on Monday.

“My responsibility is to do everything in my power until the plenary vote to try to secure the necessary number of votes,” Muresan said. “I feel that right now we’re in the 200-vote range and that we’re getting close.”

Muresan’s core support comes from three parties: the PNL, the Save Romania Union party, or USR, and the small ethnic Hungarian UDMR party. The Social Democratic Party, or PSD, and the nationalist opposition Alliance for the Unity of Romanians party, or AUR, have said they will not support his Cabinet.

No-confidence motion triggered a crisis

The political crisis began in May when Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan was ousted in a no-confidence motion jointly filed by the Social Democratic Party, or PSD, which was part of the governing coalition, and the nationalist opposition Alliance for the Unity of Romanians party, or AUR.

Muresan, who became a European lawmaker in 2014, said his experience as an MEP in Brussels qualifies him for the premiership.

“The major challenges we face today, restoring the competitiveness of our economies, enhancing security in the face of multiple threats to people’s safety,” he said, listing the threats as energy security, cybersecurity and drones violating Romania’s airspace. “All of these issues have an international dimension.”

After ministerial hearings this week, Romanian President Nicusor Dan said “it’s time for this political crisis to end” and for political parties “to look beyond the party line” in favor of what he described as the national interest.

“Early elections are not a solution,” Dan said Tuesday. “On the contrary, they would be a continuation of instability and distrust, both among Romanian citizens and among financial markets.”

Previous nominees have failed to form governments

If the political crisis is not resolved soon, early elections may become the only alternative, Muresan said.

“I would rather have two months of an election campaign and early elections, to receive a new mandate from the people, rather than two years of uncertainty until the next parliamentary election,” he said.

When the previous coalition came to power in 2025, Bolojan was sworn in with the aim of ending one of Romania’s worst political crises in its post-Communist history and reducing a massive budget deficit.

Dan made two presidential nominations in June, but neither candidate managed to form a government. The president can dissolve Parliament if it rejects two Cabinet proposals within 60 days of the first rejection. The next election is scheduled for 2028.

Cristian Andrei, a Bucharest-based political consultant, said the chances of Muresan’s Cabinet passing are “close to zero” and warned the president’s next nomination risks shifting Romania’s pro-European orientation toward right-wing populism.

“A new nomination from the president is expected, a candidate accepted by the Social Democrats and a cabinet controlled by them,” he said. “There’s no clear conclusion for the current political deadlock, but a cooperation between the Social Democrats, the populists and extremists might swing Romania from a pro-European coalition to a populist one.”

Muresan accuses rivals of anti-Europeanism

Muresan has long accused the AUR, which came in second in a 2024 parliamentary election, of being anti-European. He slammed the PSD for collaborating with the hard-right party on the no-confidence motion that toppled the previous government.

“People will be able to see exactly if the Social Democratic Party will continue to partner with anti-European extremists or if it will vote for the pro-European government,” he said. “No other member state of the European Union, as a party that claims that it is a social democracy, cooperates with the extreme-right populist anti-European.”

PSD leader Sorin Grindeanu said in a press briefing on Monday that the program presented by Muresan’s Cabinet is “in our view, an insult to economic logic,” arguing it would continue with Bolojan’s austerity measures.

AUR leader George Simion said his party will not participate in the vote.

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McGrath reported from Leamington Spa, England.