BUCHAREST—Romania’s designated Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos failed to win a parliamentary vote of confidence for his centrist minority cabinet on Wednesday, extending a political stalemate. Romania, one of the European Union’s poorest states, has been in political paralysis since a liberal-led cabinet was toppled by Parliament on Oct. 5, threatening the economic recovery from the pandemic and efforts to cut twin deficits at a time of rising energy prices. Under the constitution, President Klaus Iohannis would need to make a new nomination after consultations with political groupings, likely from the ranks of his Liberal party. “Our party was the sole to have wanted to take responsibility, to govern, at these tough times,” Ciolos told legislators. “We aimed to solve this current health crisis.” Final ballot data has not yet been released, but a Social Democrat deputy said Ciolos was “at least 140 votes short” of the required threshold to win. …