The no-confidence vote was passed in the parliament with 261 votes, well above the required 233-vote majority.

Romanian Prime Minister Ludovic Orban’s minority government has been toppled after losing a no-confidence vote with 261 votes (well above the 233 threshold required) brought by the left leaning opposition. The no-confidence motion was yesterday put forward by the opposition Social Democrats (PSD), who were themselves overthrown by parliament in October with 238 votes. To read more about it click here.

What seems to follow is snap elections and according to the Romanian law, early elections can be triggered if two government proposals are rejected by the Parliament within the next 60 days. It is worth mentioning that according to Romanian media, early elections are likely to be called by June at the latest. The interim Government will have limited power in the meanwhile. Currently, PSD and the UDMR hold 228 seats in parliament, which indicates that a number of lawmakers voted against a government that they initially supported in November.

Note that if the vote had failed, the current Government, headed by Mr. Orban, would have had a green light to reintroduce electing local officials in two rounds of voting instead of the current first-past-the-post system introduced in 2012. Both PSD and the UDMR would have stood to lose a high number of local positions if local officials will again be elected in two rounds.