Romanian Parliament Rejects Mureșan Government

Romania’s Parliament rejected Siegfried Mureșan’s proposed government on Wednesday, receiving 182 votes in favor, 51 short of the 233 needed for approval. The vote prolongs a political deadlock that began with the collapse of the previous governing coalition in May and leaves President Nicușor Dan to seek another prime-minister candidate. Dan said he would nominate a new candidate on Monday after consulting parliamentary party leaders. The identity of the next nominee and whether that person can win parliamentary backing remain unclear. Mureșan, a liberal member of the European Parliament, was the third person Dan had nominated since the coalition collapsed. Mureșan’s proposed cabinet was supported by the National Liberal Party, Save Romania Union and the ethnic Hungarian UDMR party. The Social Democrats, the largest party in Parliament, opposed it, as did the Alliance for the Union of Romanians, the second-largest party. AUR largely boycotted the vote, according to reports.