Romanian centre-right parties propose EU lawmaker as PM, seek presidential backing

BUCHAREST, June 26 - Three centre-right parties in Romania's outgoing ruling coalition proposed European lawmaker Siegfried Muresan as candidate for prime minister on Friday, but it was unclear if they would gather the required votes to get him approved.

The leftist Social Democrats, Romania's largest party, triggered a political crisis when they quit the coalition and teamed up with the far-right opposition to topple Liberal Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan in early May.

The political standoff risks an early election in Romania, where the hard-right Alliance for Uniting Romanians, which opposes a European Union rearmament initiative and aid for Ukraine, is leading opinion surveys by double digits.

The Social Democrats have put forward their leader, Sorin Grindeanu, as candidate for prime minister and ruled out endorsing a cabinet they are not a part of. The Liberals, part of the centre-right trio with the Save Romania Union and the ethnic Hungarian UDMR party, have ruled out forming another coalition with the leftists.

The leaders of all four parties in the outgoing coalition were scheduled to meet centrist President Nicusor Dan on Friday evening to discuss the next steps on backing a minority cabinet.

The Alliance for Uniting Romanians, parliament's second-largest party, voted against a law authorising the shooting down of Russian drones that breach national airspace near the border with Ukraine, and has been a vocal critic of the EU.

A Liberal prime minister designated by Dan without consulting his party failed to get parliament's vote of confidence earlier this week.

The president has one more nomination left to make. Under Romanian law, the president can dissolve parliament and call an early election if two prime ministerial candidates fail to win parliament's backing within 60 days of a cabinet collapse.

The crisis is threatening Romania's efforts to reduce the largest budget deficit in the EU, gain access to EU funds and lift its sovereign rating from the last rung of investment grade.

Romania's next parliamentary election is not until 2028. REUTERS