Romania's PSD and Far-Right AUR Prepare Joint No-Confidence Motion Against PM Bolojan

A week after Romania's Social Democrats (PSD) moved to oust Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan, the country's two most popular parties are preparing a no-confidence motion. Leaders of the PSD — formerly a member of the governing coalition — and the far-right opposition Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), which is leading in the polls, said at a joint press conference Monday that they would submit a motion of censure together. "The first step towards achieving our goals is to submit the motion of censure … The mathematical solution shows that the current government no longer benefits from a majority," said George Simion, AUR founder and chairman, to local media. According to recent polls, PSD and AUR could secure a parliamentary majority if they joined forces at an upcoming general election. Bolojan, head of the center-right National Liberal Party (PNL), is currently leading a minority coalition government after the PSD decided to join the opposition last week. Ciprian Ciucu, mayor of Bucharest and a senior figure in the PNL party, criticized the move, writing on Facebook: "To me, it seems very irresponsible." "Anyone who builds a majority to bring down a government has the responsibility to form another one in its place," he added, and announced his party would no longer enter a coalition with the Social Democrats. Other PNL politicians attacked the Social Democrats' leader, Sorin Grindeanu, for his collaboration with the far-right AUR. "Grindeanu has repeatedly claimed that he would not collaborate with AUR. The alliance today confirms Grindeanu's permanent lie," MEP Dan Motreanu wrote on Facebook. The motion could be debated in parliament in early May, according to local media. However, both PSD and AUR would need the support of other opposition parties, since together they have only 219 seats in parliament, 14 votes short of the majority needed to topple the prime minister. Romania was plunged into political crisis in 2024 after a presidential election was controversially annulled due to suspected foreign interference.