Start of Parliament plenary sitting to debate and vote on censorship motion

The Senate and the Chamber of Deputies gathered on Thursday in a joint meeting to debate and vote on the censorship motion tabled against the government headed by Prime Minister Viorica Dancila. A total of 298 lawmakers registered their attendance at the plenary session, announced Chamber of Deputies' Speaker Marcel Ciolacu, who chairs today's sitting. Premier Viorica Dancila and Cabinet members are present. The motion titled "For us to rebuild Romania, the Dancila Government must be urgently dismissed!" is presented in the plenary by deputy of the Save Romania Union Cristian Seidler. According to Liberal leader Ludovic Orban, the motion was signed by 237 MPs from the National Liberal Party (PNL), the Save Romania Union (USR), the People's Movement Party (PMP), PRO Romania, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE), the Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (UDMR), the national minorities, and two Social Democrat lawmakers. The initiators of the censorship motion demand the Parliament's vote for the dismissal of the "the most harmful" government of the last 30 years, and say that immediately after this the opposition will propose "the best government solution for the Romanians"; this is seen as a "lean government" with 15 ministries. The vote on the censure motion will be secret. The censorship motion needs 233 votes in order to pass. AGERPRES (RO - author: Florentina Peia, editor: Andreea Rotaru; EN - author: Simona Klodnischi, editor: Adina Panaitescu)