BUCHAREST -- The Romanian president has asked outgoing Prime Minister Ludovic Orban to form a new government, moving a step closer to snap general elections.
President Klaus Iohannis made the announcement on February 6, a day after Orban's center-right minority government was dismissed after losing a no-confidence vote brought by the leftist opposition.
Both Orban and Iohannis have said they want early elections, but the president can only dissolve parliament if two attempts to install a new executive within 60 days fail.
On February 6, lawmakers toppled Orban's Liberal minority government in a vote of no-confidence put forward by the opposition Social Democrats (PSD) and the ethnic Hungarian UDMR party.
Orban's cabinet took power on an anti-corruption ticket in November after the Social Democrats were ousted from government in October.
The PSD and UDMR had criticized Orban for pushing to alter electoral laws without public debate ahead of a mayoral ballot scheduled in late spring.