Since the Revolution, there have been no fewer than 51 attempts to bring down governments through motions of no confidence. The first was on March 14, 1993, against the Nicolae Văcăroiu Government. The last one, in December 2025, against the Bolojan Government. In all, over the years, only six motions have managed to pass. In the article, we present the history of censure motions in Romania.
Six prime ministers were dismissed by no-confidence motion
Although there had been attempts, the first no-confidence motion that succeeded was only on October 13, 2009, when Bo governmentc he became the first in post-December history dismissed through such a procedure. The initiative was submitted by PNL and UDMR parliamentarians, supported by PSD. The motion, named “11 against Romania” passed the Parliament with 254 votes “for” and 176 “against”. However, Emil Boc remained interim prime minister, until December of the same year, when he took over the full powers again, after the Boc 2 Government was validated. The new executive had a mandate until February 2012.
The second motion of censure passed was against Mihai Răzvan Ungureanu Government. Submitted by PNL and PSD, the motion passed on April 18, 2012, with 235 votes “for” and nine votes “against”. This was followed by the installation of the Ponta government.
The third motion of no confidence that passed took place on June 21, 2017, when Sorin Grindeanu he became the first prime minister dismissed by a no-confidence motion initiated by his own party (PSD) and coalition partners (ALDE). All after Grindeanu no longer had the support of Liviu Dragnea, the PSD leader at that time. Named “Romania cannot be confiscated.” We defend democracy and the vote of the Romanians”, the censure motion was debated and voted in less than three hours, with 241 votes “for” and only 10 “against”.
The next prime minister dismissed by motion of no confidence was Viorica Dancila, on October 10, 2019. The censure motion was initiated by members of a record number of parties: PNL, USR, PMP, PRO Romania, ALDE, UDMR, national minorities, but also by former PSD parliamentarians. It passed with 238 votes “for” and 4 “against”.
Just a few months later, another motion of censure followed, against the Government Ludovic Orban. The motion “Orban Government/PNL – privatization of Romanian democracy”, initiated by PSD and UDMR, passed the Parliament on February 5, 2020, with 261 votes “for” and 139 “against”. However, Ludovic Orban managed to obtain a new mandate on March 14, 2020.
The last prime minister dismissed by a motion of no confidence was Florin Cițuon September 28, 2021. Called “Stop poverty, price increases and penalties!” Jos Guvernul Cîțu”, the motion was initiated by PSD MPs and passed with the highest number of votes: 281 “for”.
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There were 46 motions that did not pass
However, most initiatives to bring down governments by motion of no confidence have failed. In the 1990-1992 legislature, no such initiative was submitted. The first censure motion in the history of democracy in Romania was on March 14, 1993, against the Nicolae Văcăroiu Government. The name was a technical one: “Motion of censure regarding the Economic-Social Reform Strategy of the government program”. 192 MPs then voted “for” and 260 “against”.
Also in the 1992-1996 legislature, there were four more attempts to dismiss governments by motion of no confidence, but they failed.
Between 1996 and 2000 there were four such attempts, and between 2000 and 2004, during the Adrian Năstase Government, only two. But then the names of the motions began to be more acidic, as is still the case today. “Mafia is suffocating Romania – Corruption of the PSD Government impoverishes Romania” was the name of the motion of March 31, 2003 against the Năstase Government. It failed with 281 votes “against” and 163 “for”.
Between 2004-2008, four censure motions were debated and voted in Parliament. The 2008-2012 legislature came up with a record of such initiatives: 11. Of which two succeeded, and nine failed at the vote.
Between 2012 and 2016, Victor Ponta was targeted by four censure motions. All of them had his name in the title and he managed to get away with them all. In September 2014, the motion “Victor Ponta endangers the rule of law!” Stop the fraud of the elections by the PSD!” had 12 votes “against” and 154 votes “for”, but which were not enough. To be adopted, the document needed 275 votes “for”.
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In the 2016-2020 legislature there were nine censure motions and the most that managed to pass in a parliamentary mandate: three.
Between 2020 and 2024, the parliamentarians tried three times to withdraw the vote of confidence granted to the Government and succeeded only once, when the Cîțu Government was dismissed.
In the new legislature, which began in 2024, seven no-confidence motions have already been submitted. In all cases, the initiators were AUR, SOS RO, POT, PACE or unaffiliated parliamentarians. They all failed.
What is a motion of no confidence and how does it work
In the Romanian Constitution, in article 113, it is specified that, in joint session, the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate “I can withdraw the confidence granted to the Government by adopting a motion of censure, with the vote of the majority of deputies and senators”.
The censure motion can be initiated by at least one fourth of the total number of deputies and senators and is communicated to the Government on the date of submission, to be debated three days after it was presented in the joint meeting of the two Chambers.
According to the Constitution, if the motion of censure has been rejected, the deputies and senators who signed it cannot initiate, in the same session, a new motion of censure, except in the case where the Government undertakes responsibility for a program, a general policy statement or a draft law.
