The Croitoru government, voted down by the Parliament

The Parliament yesterday rejected the Croitoru cabinet.

Out of the 458 MPs present, just 198 senators voted in favor of the Croitoru government, which needed 236 votes to be validated.

Yesterday"s decision does not constitute a surprise, as the "transparent parliamentary majority", consisting of PSD, PNL, UDMR and the group of minorities (others than the Hungarians) had repeatedly announced their support for the mayor of Sibiu, Klaus Johannis as Prime-Minister.

Out of the 14 ministers proposed by Croitoru, only two - Vasile Blaga and Bogdan Aurescu - were validated by the specialized parliamentary commissions. The leaders of the parties which make up the "transparent parliamentary majority" repeatedly advised the appointed prime-minister to give up on because he didn"t stand a chance to pass the vote in the Parliament.

• Croitoru: "My mission is over"

After the vote, Lucian Croitoru said that he has presented the best governing formula and that he did everything in his power to ensure the country would have a government.

Lucian Croitoru said: "I"ve done everything I could to set up a government that I think the country needs in order to do the required reforms. We will have to see what implications the fall of the government will have. I can"t comment on that for the moment".

Croitoru said his mission "was over", and he would return to work at the Central Bank, as monetary policy advisor of the Central Bank"s governor.

• "The transparent majority": "We will not vote for any other candidate except for Johannis"

The parties that make up the "transparent parliamentary majority" yesterday notified President Traian Băsescu that they would not vote in favor of any Government that is not led by Klaus Johannis.

The other political parties thus reaffirmed their support for the Mayor of Sibiu, Klaus Johannis whom they are backing for the position of prime minister.

The president of PSD, Mircea Geoană said: "We will once again ask president Traian Băsescu to return to what is called the golden rule of Democracy, the proposal of Klaus Johannis as the future PM. We will request the resumption of consultations with the President, according to the Constitution".

Liberals, through vice-president Ludovic Orban, said they would not support a cabinet that is not led by Klaus Johannis. Besides, liberals are considering notifying the Constitutional Court of Romania that there is a conflict between the estates.

The political crisis continues

The domestic political crisis continues, leaving the interim government led by Emil Boc still in charge, until a new Executive gets sworn in.

After yesterday"s ballot in the parliament, president Traian Băsescu is expected to propose a new prime-minister.

According to the president, yesterday was his birthday, and the members of the Parliament ruined it for him.

According to NewsIn, Traian Băsescu said: "I don"t feel like thanking the Parliament for the my birthday present, by slamming Romania"s second government. It doesn"t matter though, I can assure you that Iliescu, Voiculescu and Hrebenciuc won"t have a Government that could manipulate into doing the privatizations they want. I can assure you that I will designate a responsible prime-minister who won"t do the bidding of those I"ve told you about. Romania will have a government that will work for its people".

Băsescu stressed that he would appoint a prime-minister that "would work for Romanians, and not for the owners of the television groups or for those that manipulate the presidents of political parties everyday".

Not long ago, the president had said that if the Croitoru cabinet doesn"t get the vote of confidence in the Parliament, he would propose a new prime-minister, but this time it would be a political nomination, from the party with the largest share in the parliament, without giving any names. The party that fits the description is PD-L, however this kind of proposal would most likely not stand a chance of getting through parliament.

At least until the presidential elections, the government led by Emil Boc will remain in charge...