One day after the Government had assumed responsibility on the law electing mayors in two rounds, PSD and UDMR have filed a censure motion intended to topple down Orban Cabinet.
Entitled “Orban Government/PNL- the privatisation of the Romanian democracy“, the motion says that the Liberal Cabinet led by Ludovic Orban should be dismissed ‘at once’ for amending the electoral system on the verge of elections “is breaking the European standards”, but also because the adoption of this law had been made unilaterally, ‘without any debate and consultations’.
Social Democrats claim that the Government’s decision to assume responsibility on amending the electoral legislation ‘has nothing to do with the Romanians’ life, but with PNL’s electoral calculations’.
PSD and UDMR also argue that, by filing censure motion, they want to sanction precisely ‘a serious violation of the electoral standards’.
The motion is signed by 208 PSD and UDMR lawmakers.
The Standing Bureaus of the Parliament are to decided the time frame for debating and voting the motion.
While PSD interim leader Marcel Ciolacu on Wednesday voiced hope for the success of the censure motion even if they fail to meet the necessary number of votes, PM Orban slams it as having no chance of victory.
“Mathematically we don’t have enough votes, but Orban Government has not had the votes either when it had been sworn in“, Ciolacu argued.
In retort, PM Ludovic Orban says he is waiting for the motion ‘with indifference’, as it has no chances to pass.
Besides the censure motion, Orban Cabinet is also facing the risk of the law being challenged to the Constitutional Court, with the constitutional judges potentially declaring it as unconstitutional.
In that case, PM Orban says his cabinet is ready to adopt an emergency ordinance to enforce the provisions for the local elections so that mayors could be elected in two rounds.
“Romanians should know that what we do is constitutional and we took the responsibility precisely to solve a problem to help people clearly express a will. If CCR might decide that taking responsibility on this law is not constitutional, we’ll have to find other solutions, such as adopting a GEO,” the premier told Realitatea TV.