Romania government survives censure motion

The Romanian Government led by Victor Ponta survived on Friday a censure motion submitted in the Parliament by the opposition, which had accused Ponta of undermining voting by Romanian abroad in presidential elections last year.

The motion was rejected by the united chambers of the parliament – where the government coalition holds a comfortable majority – with 194 votes in favor, way below the 278 necessary for the motion to pass.

Following the vote, opposition leader Alina Gorghiu said it proved the lack of respect by the majority in Parliament and its defiance towards Romanian citizens. She said she hoped another motion censure this fall, against a government „lacking legitimacy”, would surely have success.

PM Ponta – who also became the target of a criminal investigation by the National Anticorruption Department last week, but refused to resign – said after today’s vote: „We have a government, we have a majority, we’re moving on”.