PNL – USR-PLUS – UDMR Cabinet, led by Florin Cîțu, has been voted by the Parliament by 260 to 186 on Wednesday night.
Minimum 228 votes were needed for a Government to receive the vote of confidence.
The vote came after along day of hearings in the committees and heated debates in the plenary session, with booing and tough retorts between the Power and the Opposition. PSD and AUR voted against the Government, while the group of national minorities voted for the new Cabinet.
“Are you scared that I am still here? Are you scared of a Citu government? I saw many things in Parliament, but guts to the limit of callousness, I have hardly seen. You got nerve, after taking people to the street with the GEO 13, to come and talk today in the Romanian Parliament (…) Guts. How did you leave the economy? 30 billion bills, 50 billion debts that we have to pay. Unpaid bills, VAT, how dare you talk here today! Things are changing. Romania will have a government of professionals. Dear Romanians, it will everything OK”, said Citu, attacking the Social Democrat lawmakers, after they had slammed Citu, the new government and the ruling programme.
In their turn, AUR announced they will refer the investiture of the new Cabinet to the Constitutional Court.
The ministers swore into office in a ceremony at the Cotroceni Presidential Palace late on Wednesday. President Klaus Iohannis urged the new Government to get to work, underlining that important reforms are needed, as well as the restructuring of the state.
“The Romanian citizens were promised a restructuring of the state, important reforms in sectors such as healthcare, education, important reforms in the large public systems, cutback of bureaucracy, but also short-term goals like the efficient countering of the pandemic,” said Iohannis.
“The new Parliament, together with me, with all state authorities, will do as promised”, he added, while urging the new Cabinet: “Get to work!”