Romania’s acting Prime Minister Ludovic Orban says his minority Liberal government will seek a vote of confidence in Parliament on February 24, though it is less than certain he will get the votes he needs.
If lawmakers refuse to endorse his government or a possible second nominee for prime minister, the president can dissolve parliament and call early elections, a difficult scenario due to political wrangling.
Orban’s three-month government lost a vote of no confidence in parliament on February 5 over a bill that would have altered Romania’s election laws, including two-rounds of voting in municipal elections.
Elections are scheduled to be held in late 2020. Any early ballot would possibly held in late June, Orban said.
Polls point to Orban’s Liberal Party in the lead with around 47% support and the party ios looking to capitalize on that The Social Democrats are polling at around 20%, about half of what it had when it took office in 2017.
On Monday, the Social Democrats said they would go to court to challenge President Klaus Iohannis’s move to renominate Orban as prime minister. That could derail plans to trigger an early election and prolong political uncertainty.
If Orban’s cabinet is voted down in parliament, the first of two proposed governments that need to be rejected by lawmakers within 60 days to trigger an election, then an election could take place in a summer, a few months ahead of schedule.
Romania has never had a snap election, and fragmented political groups made it difficult to bring about.
