UPDATE President Iohannis to Orban Gov't: I wish you a successful mandate, even if it isn't a full one

President Klaus Iohannis on Monday wished the Orban Government "a successful mandate."

"Mr PM Ludovic Orban, congratulations to you and your entire governmental team. I wish you a successful mandate, even if, unfortunately, it isn't a full one of four years, but a shorter one, which is exactly why it will be a more difficult one," said the head of the state at the investiture ceremony of the Orban Cabinet.

He congratulated the Liberals for the investiture vote in Parliament of the Orban Cabinet.

"You succeeded to convince the opposition parties that together you have a new majority in the Romanian Parliament, which replaces the toxic majority of the PSD (Social Democratic Party) and you managed to convince enough MPs to vote for the motion of censure, which toppled this failed government of the PSD, and you also succeeded today to convince the opposition parties and other MPs to vote alongside PNL for the Ludovic Orban Government. This is a great achievement and I want to underscore that what happened today is an authentic democratic exercise; a government was removed and a new government got invested by a new parliamentary majority," said Iohannis.

He congratulated the MPs who voted alongside PNL today.

"They are MPs from the USR (Save Romania Union), PMP (people's Movement Party), UDMR (Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania), ALDE (Alliance of Liberals and Democrats) and other minorities, even Pro Romania, non-affiliated and some even from the PSD. You, who voted for the investiture of the Orban Government, what you did was wise. You understood very well that you need to leave aside the petty political arrangements in a time when Romania is facing a governmental crisis. You had the wisdom to vote for this new government to put an end to the crisis and give Romania a real chance to go further. Congratulations and my appreciation for all those who voted today for the investiture of the Orban Government!," said Iohannis.