The left and right wings of the Romanian parliament united to oust the country’s center-right National Liberal Party prime minister, signaling political turmoil in the Ukraine-bordering NATO state.
Romanian Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan lost a vote of no confidence on Tuesday with 281 votes in favor of removal from the 464-seat parliament — a maneuver he blasted as “cynical and artificial.”
“I assumed the position of prime minister, being aware that it comes with enormous pressure and that I would not receive applause from the citizens,” Bolojan said in a pointed speech before the vote. “But I chose to do what was urgent and necessary for our country.”
He added: “Can anyone say how Romania will function from tomorrow. Do you have a plan?”
It was the hard-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians party that submitted the motion for a no-confidence vote, and the Social Democrats joined them to oust the premier. The latter has now been accused of cooperating too closely with the rising right-wing movement.
Bolojan formed his current coalition just under a year ago in an attempt to ice out the growing hard-right representation in parliament.
The Social Democrats, the largest party in the legislature, left that coalition in April. They were outraged at the premier’s attempts to reduce the national deficit by curbing state spending through austerity measures.
Bolojan unsuccessfully tried to continue on with a minority government.
The Social Democrats have signaled their willingness to negotiate re-entering the four-party coalition with a new NLP lawmaker as prime minister.
President Nicușor Dan will now be expected to begin meeting with the leaders of various parties to negotiate forming a new coalition.
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Dan, a Centrist who formerly served as the mayor of Bucharest, was elected to high office in May of last year. He ran a strong campaign against Alliance for the Unity of Romanians candidate George Simion.
Simion unsuccessfully lobbied the Constitutional Court to annul the election, citing “external interferences by state and non-state actors.” That request was declined.
The Constitutional Court had previously annulled the 2024 presidential election, citing claims that Russia bolstered the online profile and public opinion of independent right-wing candidate Călin Georgescu, who won the preliminary round.