USR and PNL challenge changes to Romanian lower house leadership: “A toxic majority has emerged”

The first sitting of Romania’s autumn parliamentary session erupted into confrontation after lawmakers changed the composition of the Chamber of Deputies’ Permanent Bureau. USR and PNL deputies walked out, saying two positions held by their parties had been handed to AUR and SOS Romania.

The two opposition parties said they would refer the vote to the Constitutional Court. One PNL representative and one USR representative lost their places on the bureau, which then went to representatives of AUR and SOS Romania.

Diana Stoica, leader of the USR deputies, accused the Social Democratic Party, or PSD, of giving extremist parties greater control over the chamber. “Today, a toxic majority has emerged in Parliament: PSD and the extremists,” she said in a statement cited by the party. Stoica argued that the vote showed a concrete political alignment rather than backstage maneuvering.

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Today, a toxic majority has emerged in Parliament: PSD and the extremists.

She said PSD would have to accept responsibility if this was the new majority it wanted to build in Parliament. Stoica also said that if no majority could govern Romania responsibly while maintaining the country’s European direction, the democratic solution would be early elections.

In a Facebook post, Stoica said PSD, AUR, SOS, UDMR, UPR, representatives of national minorities and several unaffiliated deputies had supported the change. USR deputy and Chamber vice-president Cătălin Drulă also criticized the vote, saying it gave extremist parties greater power in the leadership of one of Parliament’s two chambers.

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We are no longer talking about statements, speculation or political games played behind the scenes, but about a concrete vote, cast openly, through which PSD chose to give the extremists more power in the leadership of the Chamber of Deputies.