USR joins PNL in rejecting Tomac cabinet, leaving proposed Romanian government without majority
Romania's Save Romania Union (USR) announced Friday it will not vote for the technocratic government proposed by Prime Minister-designate Eugen Tomac, following a similar decision by the National Liberal Party (PNL) a day earlier.
Decision after online meeting
The USR Political Committee met online at 17:00 on Friday to debate support for the Tomac cabinet. According to sources cited by HotNews, the internal vote was decisive: 131 members opposed backing the government, five voted in favour, and one abstained. The outcome aligns USR with the PNL, which had already announced its refusal on Thursday.
A technocrat cabinet does not have the political support needed to pull Romania out of the crisis.
USR leader Dominic Fritz stressed that the party's rejection was not directed against Prime Minister-designate Eugen Tomac or President Nicușor Dan. The party has consistently argued that it will not participate in any government that includes the Social Democratic Party (PSD), nor will it back a technocrat executive lacking a parliamentary majority.
PNL's earlier stance
On Thursday, the PNL decided unanimously not to support what it described as a smokescreen for PSD. PNL leader Ilie Bolojan accused Tomac's cabinet list of including individuals close to the PSD, saying the liberals would not endorse "a front formula to absolve PSD of responsibility".
We will not support a front formula to absolve PSD of responsibility.
With both USR and PNL withholding their votes, Tomac's proposed government now has almost no mathematical chance of securing the parliamentary majority required for investiture. The cabinet list does not include current USR ministers, a condition Dominic Fritz had set immediately after Tomac's designation.
Path to a likely failure
- PNL votes unanimously not to support the Tomac government, calling it a shield for PSD.
- USR Political Committee begins an online meeting to debate cabinet support.
- USR announces it will not vote for the Tomac cabinet, revealing a 131-5-1 internal tally.
The twin rejections leave Tomac isolated just days after he was tasked with forming a government. The prime minister-designate finalised his ministerial list on Friday morning, but the absence of cross-party support makes the cabinet's approval in Parliament highly unlikely. The developments deepen a political deadlock that began with a censure motion filed by PSD and AUR, which both USR and PNL supported.
