Ludovic Orban (L, Front), leader of the Romanian National Liberal Party, gestures during a parliament session in Bucharest, capital of Romania, on Nov. 4, 2019. The Romanian National Liberal government won a vote of confidence in parliament on Monday, replacing the Social Democrats who had been in power for nearly three years. (Photo by Cristian Cristel/Xinhua)
BUCHAREST, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- Romania's new government led by the National Liberal Party (PNL) won a vote of confidence in parliament on Monday, replacing the Social Democrats, whose government collapsed in a no-confidence vote three weeks ago after nearly three years in power.
The new government, led by PNL leader Ludovic Orban, received the green light from parliament with 240 votes, seven more than the required minimum in the 465-seat bicameral parliament.
The vote was boycotted by the Social Democratic Party and the Pro Romania Party. However, the decisive votes that tipped the balance in Orban's favor came from some ten MPs from the two parties that officially boycotted the vote.
Orban said that an informal meeting of the new cabinet will be held at Victoria Palace, the headquarters of the government, to determine the next steps immediately after the government's investiture.
"We are ready to start the work in force ... we will establish all the important decisions that must be taken to be prepared for the government meeting and other organizational structures at governmental level that will be convened in the near future," Orban said.
Earlier, Orban told the joint plenary meeting of parliament that his cabinet's mandate was limited to one year, underscoring that certain measures should be urgently taken.
He highlighted the urgent need to revise the current state budget and to draft the budget for 2020.
He described as "disastrous" the country's winter preparations in the provision of energy services and in the authorities' ability to clear the transport networks.
Orban's team includes 16 ministers and a deputy prime minister without portfolio, about a third fewer officials than in the previous government.
Last week, parliament's specialised committees held hearings for the proposed ministers. Three of the 16 ministers -- those proposed for the Finance Ministry, the Public Works, Development and Administration Ministry and the Labour and Social Protection Ministry -- received negative feedback from MPs. Yet, Orban said he would not give up on the nominations and bring his initial team before parliament, suggesting that the three ministers were rejected on political grounds, not for lacking the necessary qualities for the jobs.
Orban, 56, has been the leader of the PNL since June 2017. He was minister of transport from April 2007 to December 2008 and a member of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies from 2008 to 2016.
On Oct. 10, the Social Democratic government lost a no-confidence vote initiated by the PNL, after it was abandoned by its coalition partner in late August and became a parliamentary minority.
The new cabinet will be sworn in later on Monday by President Klaus Iohannis at the Cotroceni Presidential Palace.
Romania is scheduled to hold presidential elections next Sunday, in which current President Iohannis, candidate of PNL, is the clear favorite, according to the latest opinion poll.
