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| - Romania's designated prime minister Florin Citu withdrew from his post on Thursday just minutes before a parliament vote on his cabinet, prolonging a political crisis as the country faces the coronavirus outbreak. The political gridlock worsened on February 5 when a government led by Ludovic Orban, chief of the National Liberal Party (PNL), was toppled following a no-confidence vote after just three months in office. Under Romania's constitution, the president can dissolve parliament and call a snap election if he fails in two attempts to name an executive within 60 days. President Klaus Iohannis had picked Orban again for the role of prime minister but he withdrew before a vote in Romania's highly fragmented parliament where no party has a majority and alliance building is key. Iohannis's next choice was Citu, 47, a PNL senator and finance minister, an option seen as another attempt by the Liberal party to trigger a new election because of opposition resistance to his nomination. A snap poll has been a major political ambition of the Iohannis' Liberals, who are riding high in the polls, but their plan was scuppered by the courts. Last month, the constitutional court questioned Orban's reappointment saying any nomination had to be aimed at forming a parliamentary majority. Opposition Social Democrats said the court ruling showed Iohannis had been trying to trigger an election rather than actually forming a government. While critics had seen Citu's nomination largely as another political move to force an election, chances of reaching a deal over a new government now appear to have increased because of the coronavirus epidemic. "A captain doesn't leave the battlefront in the middle of a battle," said Liberal senator Florin Roman. Before Citu stepped down, Alfred Simonis, leader of the Social Democrats in parliament's lower chamber, said the opposition could back the government. "There's a trend in our party to support this government until the crisis generated by the virus passes," he said. The eastern European country has confirmed 48 cases of COVID-19 so far, and has already closed schools, banned gatherings of more than 100 people and toughened border controls. Citu said that his resignation "must be interpreted in the current context", but gave no further explanation. President Iohannis must now call for consultations with the political parties and make another nomination, who must win the support of a fragmented parliament. ii/pma/jv
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