June 16 (SeeNews) - Romania's prime minister Sorin Grindeanu said late on Thursday he will only resign if the leader of governing Social Democratic Party (PSD), Liviu Dragnea steps down by Monday.
"I ask Liviu Dragnea to think well until Monday and take responsibility for this crisis. After he resigns, I will also resign," Grindeanu said during a news conference broadcast by Digi 24 station.
"I would like to thank the ministers who have agreed to be responsible and come today to do their job, to continue their work. Regardless of what will happen in the coming days, we have an obligation not to make the Romanians or the economic environment suffer," he added.
Grindeanu made this announcement after Dragnea said on Thursday that the PSD has agreed with its junior government coalition partner, the Liberal-Democrat Alliance (ALDE), to file a censure motion against the government. PSD's executive committee has also decided to expel Grindeanu from the party following his refusal to resign.
Grindeanu refused to step down on Wednesday night after the PSD's decision making body withdrew support for his six-month old coalition cabinet citing poor performance. ALDE also withdrew support for Grindeanu on Wednesday.
In order to pass, the censure motion needs to be backed by 233 MPs.
In December 11 regular general election, PSD won 221 of a total of 463 seats in the two houses of parliament in the election. After the vote, PSD joined forces with ALDE to secure a comfortable majority of 250 seats.
However, there are signs that not everybody in PSD will support the motion, as various PSD members, including ex-prime minister Victor Ponta have declared publicly that they support Grindeanu.
Amid the unfolding political crisis, the Romanian leu on Thursday weakened the most against the euro since August 2012. Romania's central bank BNR set its reference exchange rate at 4.5872 lei per euro on Thursday, 0.45% weaker compared to 4.5667 lei per euro on Wednesday. This is the lowest exchange rate for the Romanian currency since August 1, 2012, when it stood at 4.63 lei per euro.
(1 euro=4.5872 lei)