Romania's opposition Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR) decided on July 1 to begin the parliamentary procedure to suspend President Nicuşor Dan and to seek early parliamentary elections by refusing to support any prime minister nominee put forward by the president, Curs de Guvernare reported.

AUR currently lacks the parliamentary support required even to initiate the suspension procedure, making the move primarily a political challenge to the governing parties aimed at bringing snap elections closer.

Calling early elections can be decided by the resident after attempts failed in parliament by two prime minister candidates within 60 days since the first attempt. The procedure thus does not involve the political parties, but AUR is pushing for such a scenario as part of its electoral strategy ahead of the 2028 parliamentary elections. Triggering snap elections would be a bonus for the far-right party, which is expected to consolidate its position in parliament and become the largest political force after the next elections (snap or at term).

AUR said all 135 members present at a meeting of its National Steering Council (CNC) unanimously backed the move and authorised the party leadership to begin discussions with other political forces.

The party also decided that its lawmakers would neither attend nor vote for any coalition government proposed by Dan.

AUR justified its initiative by accusing the president of excluding "a significant part of Romanians" from decisions regarding the country's future (by warning that any majority that would include AUR MPs is not acceptable) and by refusing to nominate the second proposal for prime minister (after the first candidate was rejected by parliament), which the party argued is required under the constitution. The constitution does not indicate a deadline for the president to come up with the second PM designation, but it provides a timeline by saying that following two PM candidates rejected by lawmakers within 60 days allows the president to dissolve the parliament.

Dan said during a press conference on June 30 that he would not nominate either Social Democratic Party (PSD) leader Sorin Grindeanu or the National Liberal Party (PNL) candidate for prime minister because neither was backed by a parliamentary majority. On June 22, the parliament rejected the first PM-designate.

Dan argued that forming such a majority is the responsibility of political parties. "I am not asking for too much. I am asking for there to be 233 people who I can be sure will vote. For the 233 people to exist, for them to get along, there must be an agreement between them. But, from my perspective, I am not asking for any agreement, any condition, just for there to be 233 people," Dan said, as cited by Agerpres.

The president also indicated that he did not intend to play a more active role in coalition negotiations. "For the moment, I do not feel that I need to get involved," he said, adding that forming a parliamentary majority "is a process" and that setting a deadline would not help.

AUR president George Simion had announced on June 30 that the party would launch the suspension procedure and urged Dan to appoint a prime minister during the week in line with what he described as the president's constitutional obligations.

Social Democratic Party president Sorin Grindeanu ruled out any cooperation with AUR on the initiative.

"There can be no talk at this moment of PSD collaborating with George Simion," Grindeanu said on July 1. He added that AUR was effectively helping keep caretaker Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan in office by refusing to support the formation of a new government.

Under Romania's constitution, a proposal to suspend the president must first be initiated by at least one-third of all members of parliament, equivalent to 156 lawmakers. AUR currently holds 91 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate combined. Under the current parliamentary arithmetic, the party falls well short of the threshold needed to initiate the procedure, meaning it would require support from other parliamentary groups. Assuming the centrist parties do not support such a move against Dan (and there are good reasons to believe this), AUR cannot even initiate the procedure. 

If the motion is formally initiated, parliament must approve the suspension by a simple majority of 233 votes. Should parliament suspend the president, a national referendum on his dismissal must be organised within 30 days.