The head of state, about snap elections: “Theoretically, it sounds very good. Snap elections mean five months during which we cannot make a budget rectification, they mean that we no longer provide funding for ambulances, we no longer provide funding for the healthcare system”

President Nicușor Dan stated on Wednesday evening, in Prague, that snap elections would cause financial instability and block the budget revision for approximately five months, at a time when Romania needs governmental continuity.

The head of state explained that a caretaker government cannot make budget revisions, which would affect funding for ambulances and the healthcare system. He said that investors lending to Romania, including banks and pension funds, had asked him to avoid organizing snap elections.

"Snap elections... In theory, they sound very good. I mean, the parties cannot agree, so we turn back to the people, and the people decide. Except that in practice we are like this... We don't have a budget revision, right? A caretaker government cannot carry out a budget revision. Snap elections mean five months during which we cannot carry out a budget revision, which means that we will no longer provide money to ambulances or to the healthcare system," the head of state said at a press conference.

Nicușor Dan argued that, according to the polls, the election would produce a result similar to the current one. In this scenario, the same parties would have to negotiate the formation of the government again, after a period of campaigning and uncertainty.