(Adnkronos) – The pro-European coalition government of Romania, led by Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, survived a no-confidence vote in parliament, thus avoiding further political turmoil in the NATO and European Union member state.
There have been months of great tension in the country, especially after what happened to the pro-Russian Calin Georgescu, the surprise winner of the first round of the Romanian presidential elections on November 24. On the eve of the ballot, however, the Constitutional Court annulled the results due to irregularities in the financing of the election campaign. The elections will have to be repeated on May 4, and Georgescu intends to stand again as an independent candidate. The Constitutional Court will have to decide by March 15 on the authorization for a new candidacy of the pro-Russian. Last Wednesday, Romanian police stopped Georgescu and subjected him to a five-hour interrogation as part of the investigation into alleged Russian interference.
According to analysts quoted by the Guardian, the three far-right parties that presented the no-confidence motion – accusing Ciolacu’s government, in office for two months, of corruption and loss of credibility – did so to raise their profile ahead of the elections in May. The no-confidence motion was supported by 144 deputies, well below the 233 votes needed to pass.
