Romanian Opposition Parties Submit New No-Confidence Motion In Parliament

The motion will be read out in Parliament within maximum five days from its submission. The motion will be debated in Parliament three days after its submission.

Romanian Social Democratic Party president Victor Ponta said Friday he does not expect the new no-confidence motion over the education bill will succeed in overthrowing the Cabinet.

Romanian Prime Minister Emil Boc asked lawmakers’ confidence vote Thursday to pass an education bill that he said would overhaul the entire educational system. Opposition lawmakers walked out in protest soon after the start of the Parliament’s plenary meeting after failing to postpone the procedure and wait for the Constitutional Court to resolve a claim regarding the bill.

The bill, among others, makes education mandatory starting with pre-school and allows Hungarian ethnics to be taught and evaluated in their own language for all subjects except Romanian language and literature.

Romania’s centrist coalition Government survived a no-confidence vote in Parliament Wednesday, as the opposition’s move only garnered 219 votes and needed at least 236 to pass and overthrow the Cabinet. Seeking a vote of confidence on the education bill, however, paves the way for a new motion of no-confidence for which opposition liberals have already started collecting signatures.