EditUnsurprisingly, Siegfried Mureșan’s government falls in Parliament
President Nicușor Dan must now decide between a new nomination and snap elections
Romania’s months-long government crisis entered a new phase on 30 September 2026 when Parliament rejected Siegfried Mureșan’s proposed cabinet. The vote produced 182 “yes” ballots and 15 “no” votes, well short of the 233 needed for investiture. Only 197 of 464 lawmakers actually voted.
The outcome was widely anticipated. Mureşan’s formula rested on PNL, USR and UDMR, which together hold roughly 169–170 seats. Even adding the 17 minority deputies would have left the bloc around 186 votes — still dozens short. PSD and AUR had already announced they would not support he cabinet; George Simion’s AUR lawmakers stayed away entirely while PSD members attended but declined to vote.
This was the second failed investiture after Adrian Veștea’s cabinet received only 189 votes in June. The political deadlock began when Ilie Bolojan’s government fell in May. President Nicușor Dan has now seen two formal attempts collapse, meeting the constitutional conditions that allow him to dissolve Parliament. He has repeatedly said he does not want snap elections, arguing they would prolong instability.
Dan now faces a choice: nominate a fourth prime-minister candidate or begin the dissolution process. PSD has signalled it is ready to try forming an alternative majority. AUR, for its part, has pushed for early elections and described them as preferable to continued deadlock.
Polls help explain why the prospect of new elections matters. Recent surveys place AUR first, with figures ranging from 34 percent (CURS) to nearly 40 percent (INSCOP). PSD follows at 19–25 percent, PNL at 16–18 percent and USR in single digits. Simulations based on those numbers suggest AUR could emerge as the largest parliamentary group, potentially with well over 100 seats. That would not automatically give the party a governing majority, but it would place AUR in a far stronger position to lead or shape any new coalition than it holds today.
Mureșan’s team presented the vote as a choice between ending the crisis or extending it. After the result he said the parties that started the deadlock had voted to prolong it and that the next move belongs to the president. Whether Dan nominates another candidate or opens the path to elections, Romania remains without a fully empowered government more than four months after the last one fell. The arithmetic that doomed the Mureșan cabinet has not changed; the political incentives of the largest parties have.
Mureșan, who as an MEP steers the important EU budget file in the European Parliament, is now likely to return to his Brussels routine.
Caption: Romanian Prime Minister-designate Siegfried Muresan (C-L) is chased by reporters after his proposed cabinet was rejected by the Parliament in Bucharest, Romania, 30 September 2026. The government proposed by Muresan failed to win the vote of confidence during a joint plenary session of the two chambers of Parliament, securing 182 votes out of 233 needed for approval. EPA/ROBERT GHEMENT
Updated: September 30, 2026 - 16:33
