Censure Motion Against the Ponta Government
Even though this year is not an election year, stakes have never been higher in Romanian politics.
Bogdan Matei, 09.06.2015, 13:28
Under attack from the media and the opposition, the coalition government in Bucharest is backed against the wall. At the same time, judging by the statements of the parties in the coalition, it might seem stronger than ever. On Friday, Parliament will debate and vote on the censure motion introduced by the Liberal opposition. The themes of the motion are the organizational disaster at polls abroad, at the presidential election last November, which disallowed thousands to vote, though they queued for hours, as well as the failure to pass the law for absentee voting, which could have prevented said situations.
Under the title ‘Victor Ponta dismissed for excess of power by blocking elections, the Social Democrat PM is accused of wishing to have become president by the deliberate sabotage of Romanian citizens in the diaspora, mostly and traditionally voting for the right, and of currently refusing to organize partial elections in numerous counties, cities and villages left without officials in 2012, because they were arrested for corruption.
The National Liberal Party also claims that the censure motion could have had more topics, which are at the same time charges against the Cabinet: bad governance, hasty amendments to in the Fiscal Code, attacks against the judiciary. However, the arithmetic in the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies is merciless with the introducers of the motion. In order to pass, the document needs at least 278 votes, while the Liberal caucus has only 173 senators and deputies.
There are not enough votes in the Popular Movement Party, nostalgic for former president Traian Basescu, in the group that left the Social Democratic Party with one of its leaders, Mircea Geoana, or the confused remains of the populist PP-DD Party, for Ponta and his government to fall. All Social Democrat MPs have announced they would stand by their leader. The junior partners in the executive, the National Union for Romanias Progress, the Conservative Party and the Reformed Liberal Party, have also raced to declare fidelity for the PM, accusing the opposition of throwing the country into a political crisis for gaining political capital, with total disregard for the economic and social consequences.
Everything, analysts say, indicates the predictable failure of the motion. It would be the third time when Pontas executive team, which came to power in 2012, passes this test. But, for the PM, this is just a small breathing space. The introduction on Friday of the motion was eclipsed by the huge scandal triggered by the announcement that the PM is under criminal investigation for corruption, for forgery, conspiracy to tax evasion, money laundering and conflicts of interest, which Ponta allegedly committed before becoming head of government. He became the first PM in post-communist Romania to be indicted in a criminal case during his term, which, pundits warn, discredits him, his government, and the country in general.
