Mureșan says PSD ministers in Niculescu's cabinet lag behind his rejected team
Siegfried Mureșan, whose own cabinet failed in Parliament, says the PSD ministers in Luca Niculescu's proposed government are weaker than the team he put forward two weeks earlier, as PNL weighs its vote.
Mureșan's criticism of the new list
Siegfried Mureșan, the PNL member of the European Parliament who was designated prime minister and then failed the investiture vote, attacked the cabinet proposed by designated prime minister Luca Niculescu in a Facebook post on Friday, 16 October. The list of ministers and the government programme were filed in Parliament on Thursday evening, 15 October. PSD would hold 11 of the 17 portfolios, and its minister delegate for pre-university education is Sorin Ionescu. Six technocrats would fill the rest of the executive.
In the post, Mureșan compared each of the 11 PSD ministries with a candidate his team had proposed two weeks earlier. He listed pairs of names and asked which of each pair Romania deserves, including Oana Gheorghiu or Alexandru Rogobete and Andrea Chiș or Radu Marinescu. He said his party had proposed competent people ready to continue reforms, cut waste, attract European funds and modernise the state.
Mureșan blamed Parliament for the outcome, saying the people want a better government while the current parliamentary majority wants something else.
Unfortunately, our team did not receive the parliament's vote.
- Mureșan's cabinet gets 182 votes in favour at the investiture vote, short of the 233 needed
- Luca Niculescu's cabinet list, with 11 of 17 portfolios for PSD, is filed in Parliament
- Mureșan criticises the PSD ministers in a Facebook post
Why his cabinet fell
His own cabinet was rejected at the investiture vote on 30 September 2026. It received 182 votes in favour, against the 233 needed, while 15 parliamentarians voted against. It was the third prime ministerial nomination by President Nicușor Dan since Parliament dismissed the Bolojan cabinet, and Dan has had to build a parliamentary majority without success in that period. Reuters described the episode as a third failed nominee for premier from the centrist president.
- Votes for
- 182 votes
- Votes against
- 15 votes
- Votes needed
- 233 votes
Accusations against PSD and the path ahead
On Thursday, 15 October, Mureșan accused PSD leader Sorin Grindeanu of inventing a lot of pretexts to bring down his government, knowing that a cabinet would follow in which the social democrats name 11 ministers. He concluded his post by saying Romania deserves better.
Romania deserves a much better government than the one being proposed to us now.
Ilie Bolojan said on Thursday that PNL will decide by the end of the week whether it votes for the Luca Niculescu government. Mureșan's final message was that the only route to a competent government is for PNL to win elections and form a new majority to modernise the country.
