A VOTE FOR AN UNFORGETTABLE SUMMER A hopeless vote of no-confidence

In the plenum joint meeting of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, which will be held today starting at 14:00, will be debated and put up for vote the vote of no-confidence against the government submitted by 152 members of the opposition.

The document which incriminates the failures of the Dăncilă government has been read in the Parliament on Monday, June 25th.

Called "The dismissal of the Dragnea-Dăncilă government, a national emergency!", the vote of no-confidence includes mentions to the rise of inflation, the rise of the ROBOR, the aberrant measures taken by the Executive concerning the definitive change of the fiscal legislation, the lack of investments in infrastructure, the assault on the judicial system, on the second pension pillar and the wage-raising policy.

To have the motion pass and to bring down the government, the opposition needs 233 votes. So far, calculations show that it lacks over 60 votes.

Over the last few days, the representatives of the PNL and USR have carried out intense negotiations with the leaders of the UDMR and Pro România.

If the heads of the UDMR play hard to get, the opposition has received positive signals from the party led by Victor Ponta and Daniel Constantin. Of course, after the liberals have issued assurances that should the vote of no-confidence be successful, Ludovic Orban will not require his nomination as prime-minister.

Nevertheless, if the opposition didn't get massive support from the UDMR and from national minorities represented in the Parliament, as well as from many PSD members unhappy with the direction the country is going, the vote of no-confidence has slim chances of passing. The minorities and the UDMR, if it were to vote en masse in favor of the motion, would only bring 47 votes to the opposition, which would not be enough to bring the government down.

UDMR president Kelemen Hunor, yesterday said that only today, after the common session of the joint groups would the MPs of the Union make a decision when it comes to a potential support of the vote of no-confidence submitted by the PNL, USR and PMP.

The UDMR president said: "Wednesday morning, at 9:00, we will have the joint session of the reunited groups. There, we will make a formal decision concerning the vote of no-confidence, but until then we are going to be talking to our colleagues. We will see what happens, but the decision will be made on Wednesday".

The UDMR leader has also discussed the manner in which the government can be replaced, adding: "If there is a majority for a certain direction, we will comply with it. No motion that ever passed brought anything worse.

As long as a government has the majority, it stays on. When it doesn't, it leaves. I'm not the one ensuring the majority of the Government. At this time, it's the PSD and ALDE that ensure the majority of the Government (...) Since they have the majority, they no longer need our support".

The UDMR leader yesterday met with the head of the PNL, Ludovic Orban. According to the calculations of the two, a maximum of 194-195 MPS would vote in favor of the vote of no-confidence.

Kelemen Hunor concluded: "There are many more votes needed to get the needed number of 233. Currently, the opposition, perhaps with some of the minorities, has no chance of bringing down the Government. Without the PSD, without ALDE, without breaking the coalition apart, it can't be brought down, regardless of what anybody may say, because the numbers don't lie. The numbers are really simple and it's extremely easy to perform a simple calculation".

• Fight in the Parliament spilling into the streets?

In order to pressure both the MPs of the governing coalition, as well as those of the opposition, the supporters of the two sides have announced their presence today in front of the Parliament's Palace. Initially, the USR and the PNL called for their supporters to protest in front of the Parliament to determine the passing of the vote of no-confidence. But yesterday social-democrat senator Claudiu Manda said that PSD sympathizers will be standing at the entrance located near the Izvor park to support the Dăncilă government.

Claudiu Manda said: "There are two alternatives, either we can compare their numbers, or things can reach a conflict. But what we are seeing happening today, including at the level of the Parliament, may make the protesters continue to want this kind of actions".

According to some PSD sources quoted by g4media.ro, the county branches have received a directive asking them to each send 15 today to Bucharest. Those supporters would travel with their own vehicles and should not be public sector employees nor high profile leaders.

Should the vote of no-confidence pass, the PNL seems willing to negotiate with anybody. According to the things stated two days ago by PNL president Ludovic Orban, the liberals are open to negotiate with "all the civilized, decent political forces, that want the good of Romania, in order to bring Romania back to its natural, Euro-Atlantic path, which honors the fundamental values and principles that underlie the functioning of the EU".

Moreover, the head of the PNL is asking voters and sympathizers of the party to come as many as possible in front of the Parliament's building, on the occasion of the debate and voting of the motion.

The USR has also launched a Facebook campaign urging people to take one day off from work, in order to participate in the protests of the entrance near the Izvor park.

Also scheduled today in the Chamber of Deputies is the voting of the simple motion of no-confidence against Lucian Şova, the former minister of Transportation. PNL, USR and PMP MPs accuse Şova of mismanaging the Romanian infrastructure and failing to produce any projects to concerning the construction of highways, the rehabilitation and modernization of roads, bridges and railways.

Yesterday, after the closing of this edition, the leaders of the opposition were planning to go to the Victoriei Square, to ask for the support of those who have been protesting for over 510 days against the PSD-ALDE coalition.