But the risk in refusing to call an election is that the president’s opponents in AUR and other parties are already threatening to try and impeach him — an option some believe will gain broader support the longer the crisis drags on.
Meanwhile, for the country of 19 million on the EU’s eastern border, time is running out. Bucharest is under pressure to reduce its high budget deficit and meet key targets for economic reforms by the end of August to secure around €11 billion in EU funding.
Credit rating agencies are also watching, amid fears that the political uncertainty could trigger a deeply damaging downgrade to the country’s status.
Adding to the pressure is parliament’s scheduled summer recess, meaning that if there is no deal by the end of June, analysts say the current caretaker government of outgoing Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan will likely continue governing until the fall.
“We are now at the beginning of a constitutional crisis,” said Cristian Pîrvulescu of the National University of Political Studies and Public Administration in Bucharest. Under the constitution, some ministers currently in post “do not have the right to be ministers” because the interim government’s term is not supposed to last beyond 45 days, a deadline that has already expired.
Talks between the political parties in Romania continued on Thursday to agree on a minority government. The negotiations ended after two hours, local media reported, but there was no announcement of a deal.