Romania’s centrist party cancels vote of confidence on PM-designate, stalemate continues

Romania’s centrist Liberals have cancelled a vote of confidence on the minority government line-up put forward by their Prime-Minister designate Nicolae Ciuca, which he was widely expected to lose, further prolonging a month-long political stalemate.

The announcement was made by Ciuca late on Monday.

The vote of confidence was due to take place on Wednesday, but pundits had expected Ciuca to lose the vote after the opposition Social Democrat Party and a junior grouping USR said they would not support Ciuca, leaving him short of the majority needed to get parliament approval to form a government.

“The executive committee of our party decided to cancel my mandate and make further negotiations (with other groupings) more flexible in order to find a replacement,” Ciuca said after a marathon party meeting late on Monday.

One of the European Union’s poorest members, Romania has been in political paralysis since a Liberal-led government was toppled by parliament on Oct. 5, threatening its economic recovery and efforts to cut big budget and external shortfalls.

via Reuters