CHISINAU (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th September, 2021) Romanian Prime Minister Florin Citu said he would appeal to the Constitutional Court over a dispute with parliament after a vote of no confidence in the cabinet.
Last week, Citu dismissed Justice Minister Stelian Ion. In response, the USR-Plus party initiated a vote of no confidence in the prime minister, which was supported by the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) party, and also recalled the deputy prime minister and six ministers from the cabinet. The vote of no confidence will be considered by the parliament on September 9.
"I inform you that the government will appeal to the Constitutional Court because of a legal conflict between the government and the Romanian parliament. The Constitutional Court must decide whether the parliament complies with the constitution," Citu said at a briefing aired on the government's website.
The authenticity of the signatures for the vote of no confidence in the government is dubious, Citu added. Under these circumstances, consideration of a vote of no confidence at a parliamentary session may contradict the constitution, since not all legislative procedures have been followed in due form.
USR-Plus stressed that after the forced resignation of the Minister of Justice, Citu "pushed through" the adoption of the third National Program for Local Development, which is "a massive national robbery." The third National Program for Local Development is a new investment program for Romanian city halls costing almost $12 billion. USR-Plus ministers, led by Ion, criticized the project as hasty, saying that the funding will likely end up enriching "local barons" rather than being invested in the development of Romanian cities and villages.
The Citu government was formed in December 2020, backed by the tripartite ruling coalition among the National Liberal Party (PNL), the Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania, and the USR-Plus (merged from two political forces - the Union for the Salvation of Romania and the Party of Freedom, Unity and Solidarity).
