Romania’s PM Ponta Survives No-confidence Vote

Romania's prime minister Victor Ponta gestures during a special parliament session in Bucharest, Romania,Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2015, before facing a no-confidence vote. Photo AP/BTA

Romania’s Parliament on Tuesday rejected a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Victor Ponta filed by the opposition over a corruption scandal.

The motion, which was filed by the National Liberal Party (PNL), was backed by 207 MPs while eight voted against it. It needed at least 275 votes to pass. It was the second no-confidence vote against Ponta in four months.

MPs from the governing coalition, which has a comfortable majority of 313 seats in Parliament, boycotted the vote.

Ponta’s four-year term of office will expire in November 2016. He is the first prime minister in Romania to stand trial while still in office.

Ponta went on trial earlier this month on charges of complicity to tax evasion, money laundering and fiscal fraud dating back to his time as a lawyer in 2007-2008, before he became head of government in 2012.

The Romanian premier has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and has resisted calls to resign. He also has accused prosecutors of fabricating the case.

 

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