New Romanian cabinet wins parliamentary confidence vote

BUCHAREST, Romania – The new Romanian government of Prime Minister Ludovic Orban has won a confidence vote in Parliament, ending a political crisis that has also delayed the formation of the new European Union executive arm.

In Monday’s vote 240 lawmakers, seven more than needed, voted for Orban’s minority centrist cabinet.

It replaces the Social Democrat government of former prime minister Viorica Dancila, who was ousted in a no-confidence vote held at the opposition’s request on Oct 10.

President Klaus Iohannis then asked Orban, the leader of the opposition Liberal Party, to form a new government.

The new government still has to propose a candidate for a commissioner at the European Commission after the country’s previous one was rejected, delaying the EU executive’s functioning by a month.