The government of Romanian Prime Minister, Emil Boc, faced a motion of no-confidence yesterday.

The government is a coalition of Boc’s Partidul Democrat-Liberal (Democratic Liberal Party – PD-L) and the Uniunea Democrată Maghiară din România (Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania – UDMR), which means, in theory, it has the support of 216 of the 471 deputies and senators, though party cohesion is rarely absolute. The majority required for a successful motion of no-confidence is 236 votes.

The motion was lodged by the opposition Partidul Social Democrat (Social Democratic Party – PSD), which has 138 seats. Therefore, to be successful, the vote needed the support of the other main opposition party, the Partidul Naţional Liberal (National Liberal Party), as well as independents. The reason for lodging the motion was to protest against the government’s economic record.

In the end, the motion received the support of only 219 deputies and senators. Thus, the motion failed.