(Bloomberg) -- Romania's ruling coalition edged closer to collapse after its junior member threatened to quit as relations soured following a row over upcoming presidential elections, local media reported.
The ALDE coalition party may quit as early as Monday after a meeting of its leaders with Prime Minister Viorica Dancila failed to defuse tensions, Digi 24 TV station cited unidentified politicians as saying. Officials from both parties didn't respond to phone calls seeking comment. Party leaders are due to meet later in the day.
If ALDE does quit, Dancila's Social Democrats will have to either seek a new coalition partner or rule without a parliamentary majority backing. Potential new partners may include representatives of ethnic parties or independent lawmakers.
The rift between the two allies intensified as Dancila decided to run for president on Nov. 10, crushing plans of ALDE Chairman Calin Popescu Tariceanu also to stand. Opinion polls show current President Klaus Iohannis, who's often clashed with the ruling parties over their past rule-of-law breaches, as winning re-election.
A new ruling arrangement would “significantly constrain the government's ability to push legislation through parliament,” said Otilia Dhand, a London-based analyst at Teneo Intelligence. “A minority cabinet would also struggle to survive until the general election scheduled in late 2020.”
To contact the reporters on this story: Andra Timu in Bucharest at atimu@bloomberg.net;Irina Vilcu in Bucharest at isavu@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Andrea Dudik at adudik@bloomberg.net, Tony Halpin
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