Romanian Opposition Votes in Government it just Ousted

Seizing the moment, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis nominated Orban, head of the National-Liberal party that Iohannis once led, to form the next government.

Orban's cabinet took power in early November with the votes of the same alliance that ousted the PSD. Then, Iohannis won a second term as president and, with the PSD at an all-time low in opinion polls, put forward the idea of an early parliamentary election with the goal of restricting the parliamentary power of the PSD and averting another period of bad governance.

Just three months later, the PSD initiated another vote of no-confidence and ousted the Orban cabinet from office. After consulting parliamentary parties, Iohannis once again nominated Orban as prime minister, a move the Constitutional Court ruled unconstitutional on the day of the vote.

President's strategy backfires

Klaus Iohannis. Photo: EPA-EFE/JULIEN WARNAND

Iohannis's strategy was to get parliament to reject his nomination three times, automatically triggering an early election under Romanian law. He then nominated Finance Minister Florin Citu, again banking on parliament saying 'No'.

The strategy, however, began to look shaky in early March when the COVID-19 epidemic hit Italy hard. With large numbers of Romanian citizens working in Italy and likely to head home, it appeared only a matter of time before the virus reached Romania.

The president's "three strikes" strategy failed completely last week when Prime Minister-designate Citu resigned his mandate, one day before the vote in favor of acting Prime Minister Orban, claiming the "good of the party".

Matters complicated further when a National-Liberal MP, a senior member of the party who was in contact with the entire...