Government crisis in Romania: next attempt

The nomination of MEP Siegfried Mureșan as the future Prime Minister of Romania will not solve the current government crisis. In a new attempt, President Nicușor Dan presented his preferred candidate on Thursday - in the hope of finally giving the country a government capable of acting again.

Since the fall of the government of liberal Ilie Bolojan in a vote of no confidence more than four months ago, the country has only been run by an interim executive. Despite his deselection, Bolojan remained head of a rump coalition from which the previous partners of the pseudo-social democratic PSD had left.

Together with the right-wing extremist Alliance for the Unification of Romanians (AUR), the PSD submitted a motion of no confidence in May and brought down the government. Despite numerous consultations with the parties represented in parliament, President Dan was unable to reach a consensus or have a moderating effect on the hopelessly divided former coalition members.

The austerity measures introduced by Bolojan to balance the state budget have sparked massive protests. 76 percent of Romanians are dissatisfied with the government's course, only 17 percent believe the drastic reforms are right and necessary. The president, who has acted hesitantly since taking office in 2025, was nevertheless confident about Mureșan's upcoming election.

It is obvious that this will not achieve the required 233 votes in parliament. The liberal PNL Bolojan would only get 169 votes with the neoliberal USR and the Democratic Association of Romania-Hungarians (UDMR), while the PSD and the right-wing radical AUR with a total of 218 seats could easily prevent Mureșan from being elected.

The first reactions after the announcement of the designated prime minister - a 44-year-old economist who would be willing to forego his mandate in the EU Parliament - showed that this arithmetic in the vote could be even worse than expected.

It was heard from liberal circles that the President had acted on his own initiative and did not nominate the candidate preferred by the party. The Hungarian Association announced that it would only elect the proposed candidate on the condition that he would not be brought into office with the help of the votes of the right-wing radical AUR. Significantly, the association's chairman failed to mention that Boloyan's liberal PNL had succeeded in persuading nine right-wing radical MPs to defect in recent months.

Whether these defectors have transformed into flawless democrats remains to be seen. As the strongest parliamentary group with 126 seats, the PSD rejected the nomination and claimed the office of head of government itself. The AUR intensified its nationalist rejection rhetoric and posted the message on social networks: “We are not voting for Germany, France or the roses, but for Romania.” The “roses” refer to the Social Democrats, whose party symbol is a bouquet of roses.

At the same time, several representatives of the AUR, which polls at 40 percent and is considered the most popular force in the country, said that it must be represented in a future government.

There is no sign of tearing down the firewall that all centrist parties are clinging to. President Dan also stands for political isolation of the AUR, although in recent months he has increasingly used ethnic rhetoric and openly speaks of “healthy nationalism”. Ultimately, only the AUR could benefit from early elections, which some are now talking about. It could become the strongest party in the country.