Romania PM Ilie Bolojan’s government toppled in no-confidence vote

Financial markets fear turbulence could mean Romania wavers in its commitment to narrowing budget deficit.Romania’s pro-European Union coalition government has collapsed after a vote of no confidence in Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan, raising fears of a fiscal crisis.After a parliamentary debate on Tuesday, 281 legislators voted in favour of the motion and four against.The effort was launched last week when the left-wing Social Democratic Party (PSD), which withdrew from the coalition in late April, and the far-right opposition Alliance for the Unity of Romanians party (AUR) submitted the motion to parliament.MPs from Bolojan’s centre-right National Liberal Party (PNL) and coalition partners Romania-union" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="41472" data-entity-type="organization">Save Romania Union party and the small ethnic Hungarian UDMR party did not vote.Although snap elections look unlikely, financial markets showed concern that the turbulence could mean Bucharest wavers in its commitment to narrowing the EU’s biggest budget deficit.The leu, Romania’s currency, fell to a record low against the euro before Tuesday’s vote.Ten months in powerThe now former coalition government came to power 10 months ago with a view to contain the gains of the far right after ‌a series of polarising elections, and it had begun to reduce the deficit, narrowly avoiding a ratings downgrade from the last rung of investment grade.But the Social Democrats, without whom a pro-EU majority cannot be achieved, have repeatedly clashed with Bolojan as his austerity measures have hit their voters and patronage networks and their popular support has bled away to the far right.Nevertheless, opinion polls suggested Bolojan is the most popular politician in the ruling coalition.‘Do you have a plan?’Bolojan called the no-confidence motion “cynical and artificial” and said before the vote that it “seems to be written by people who were not in government every day and did not participate in all the decisions”.