Marcel Ciolacu, the candidate of the senior ruling party, the Social Democratic Party (PSD), was elected president of the Chamber of Deputies with 172 votes.

Raluca Turcan, backed by the united opposition parties (National Liberal Party, Save Romania Union, Popular Movement Party) received only 100 votes while Kelemen Hunor, the candidate of the ethnic Hungarians’ party UDMR received only 20 votes. 

The ruling coalition faced another crisis during the day, when the expert committee in the Senate endorsed the prosecutors’ request for the beginning of investigations against the leader of the junior ruling party and Senate president Calin Popescu-Tariceanu. Prime minister Viorica Dancila, the new PSD head, intervened and promised Tariceanu that the PSD MPs will vote against prosecutors’ request when they are supposed to give the final vote, local Hotnews.ro reported.

Eventually, the tensions were ironed out and Tariceanu’s party, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, backed PSD’s candidate for the chairman of the Chamber of Deputies.

editor@romania-insider.com

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