Romania's parliament voted the cabinet of prime minister Emil Boc out of office on October 13, passing a motion of no confidence by 254 votes to 176.

The motion was put forward by the centre-right opposition National-Liberal party and the ethnic Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania after the leftist Social Democrats left the cabinet earlier this month. The Social Democrats backed the motion.

The party left government after Boc decided to sack Social Democrat interior minister Dan Nica, who made veiled accusations that incumbent president Traian Basescu, backed by Boc's Democrat-Liberals, might attempt to defraud the presidential elections in November.

In the wake of the row, Boc decided not to appoint new ministers to the vacated portfolios, which would have required a new investiture vote from parliament, but to distribute the portfolios among current cabinet ministers.

The decision was challenged by the opposition and their motion was voted despite Democrat-Liberals' allegations that it was unconstitutional. It was the first time since the fall of communism that a Romanian government was brought down by a motion of no confidence.

Basescu called for consultations with parliamentary parties and will have to nominate a new prime minister-designate. He is widely expected to nominate Boc once again, even though parliament appears certain to vote down his nomination.

The National-Liberals and Social Democrats have called for a technocrat government. Long-serving central bank governor Mugur Isarescu, confirmed by parliament for another five-year term last week, and Klaus Johannis, the widely-respected mayor of the town of Sibiu, have been mooted as possible caretaker prime ministers.

In the meantime, Boc's cabinet can serve on an interim basis, but will be curtailed of any legislative powers that are otherwise available to the executive branch.

Any government, however, would have the unenviable task of pushing through with unpopular reforms mandated by the International Monetary Fund, which agreed to lend the bulk of a $25 billion bail-out in May 2009. Romania needs the money to cover its budget deficit, projected to exceed five per cent this year, and pay salaries in the large public sector.