June 28 (SeeNews) - A censure motion against Romania's coalition cabinet led by Viorica Dancila failed on Wednesday, sparking protests in the capital Bucharest.
The censure motion was submitted by the right-wing National Liberal Party (PNL), which accused the government comprising left-wing Social Democratic Party (PSD) and centre-right Liberal-Democrat Alliance (ALDE) of jeopardising the Romanian economy through faulty fiscal policies.
The censure motion was approved by a total of 166 MPs from PNL, the centre-right Save Romania Union (USR) and the Popular Movement Party (PMP), according to figures presented in a televised statement by the spokeswoman of the lower house of parliament on Wednesday evening. The coalition government ensured the necessary quorum but did not vote.
In order to pass, the motion needed to be backed by 233 MPs.
While the MPs were debating the motion, some 4,000 people gathered in front of the parliament building in capital Bucharest in protest against the government, local TV station Digi 24 reported. The protesters then marched to the government headquarters, escorted by the police, a SeeNews reporter saw.
The PSD-ALDE government coalition has majority in the 465-seat parliament, holding 219 and 26 seats, respectively. PNL has 96 MPs, USR holds 41 and PMP has 14 MPs. The Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR), which backs the government coalition, holds 30 seats, while the rest is held by independent MPs.
The cabinet led by Dancila took office on January 29. It is the third cabinet of PSD and ALDE since the December 2016 election.
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