If the PSD ministers are withdrawn, other members of the cabinet will take over the portfolios, Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan explained, Sunday evening, at B1. He emphasized that President Nicușor Dan did not ask him to resign and explained why his departure and bringing in a puppet prime minister wanted by the PSD will not solve the problems.
Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan explained, on Sunday evening, on B1, what he will do after the PSD ministers withdraw from the government: “As you have seen these days, there are no criticisms related to certain things that were not respected in the government plan, related to what was not done or some solutions that are proposed, that would put things right. If I saw that there was a solution, that something was not done well, that would put things right. If Prime Minister Bolojan had kept the country’s money collected in a certain area and not released it, if some reforms could have been made, other than what has been done until now, if there had been some solutions that PSD had proposed until now, then believe me there would have been no problem for me to withdraw from this position. That is clear. But there are no solutions, no other solutions have been presented.”
In this context, the prime minister claimed that he has the responsibility to ensure the functioning of the Government because there are some very important challenges in the coming period.
“I will not resign”
“So, depending on what the PSD will decide one way or another, I will not resign as prime minister. That is the first matter.”
Asked if even President Nicușor Dan could not convince him to resign, Bolojan claimed “I talked with Mr. President about this matter, I informed him about the perspective vis-à-vis what is happening and we will certainly discuss in the coming days vis-à-vis this possible crisis that is foreshadowing. But think that in the conditions in which such a crisis is entered, we have to absorb our European funds that we have through PNRR until August. If the government does not work, if there are disruptions in the government activity, there is a probability that we will lose significant amounts and you will see if that happens, that no one will answer in August when we might lose some money.”
Asked about the talks with Nicușor Dan, the prime minister said that everyone’s perspectives were presented. He emphasized that the president did not ask him to resign.
“In the conditions in which such a situation has happened that I told you, I don’t want it because I think we don’t need a crisis, then we will proceed according to the constitutional regulations and at least in a first stage, if ministers are withdrawn, other members of the cabinet will take over the portfolios that become vacant following the withdrawal of ministers. It is important for the government to work in the next period, because, as I told you, we have the problem of European funds. We have the problem of the spending cuts we have to make. Think we’ve let the spending cuts phase in this year as well. If we don’t cut our spending further, by closing the reforms that are started, then obviously the financials in the second half of the year will look different than what was projected.”
“There is a risk that we will not meet these PNRR milestones and not get the money”
The prime minister pointed out that the problems that come as a result of the war in the Gulf complicate the situation even more from an economic point of view.
“So the government will focus on these issues in such a way that we ensure the functioning of the government, keep the public apparatus working, absorb the money from the PNRR”explained the liberal.
He explained that in order to take the money from the PNR, several legislative packages must be approved, some related to government decisions, others related to laws, and if these acts are not adopted due to political turbulence “there is a risk that we will not meet these milestones and not get the money.”
“A milestone has, for example, a value of approximately 700 million euros. We have 13-14 such milestones, of which, I think, half relate to legislation that must be passed through Parliament. So there are 3-4 billion euros that depend on the parliamentary vote, and we need a dialogue with the political forces to ensure that these projects are passed by the summer of this year.”
“Let’s say a new prime minister comes in who does things the right way. How long will it take PSD to do what they are doing now?”
Asked if his resignation and the installation of another government with the support of the Coalition would not solve the problems with money from the PNRR, Bolojan claimed: “If I knew that this is how the situation is resolved, there would be no problem”. He claims that the Romanian political world’s lack of courage and PSD’s evasion of responsibility will not solve the problems.
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“Apart from that, another reason why the PSD is acting in this way to dynamit the government is the desire to have a comfortable prime minister, some people in the PSD leadership would probably like a puppet prime minister. This means that this prime minister should be on the bill for what is being done, and behind him, the people skilled in underground type governments, should be able to screw through the government. Even during this period, I fought to put the country’s finances in order and the budget reserve fund to stop being used as a piggy bank to solve all kinds of things.”
Regarding the negotiations after a possible landing of the government, Bolojan claimed that “when another party decides the prime minister appointed by the PNL, it becomes a subsidiary party. Let’s assume that a prime minister comes who has a very important determination, who does things the way they need to go forward. The question is how long it will take until the PSD does again what it is doing these months and generates a crisis?”
And if a puppet prime minister came to ensure a presence there, do we think it would be good for Romania? – asks Bolojan.
“It would not be good for the country and it would not be good for the PNL either. So, from this point of view, for me things are as clear as possible”, he answered, too.
What happens to the 2nd echelon of the administration
Regarding the secretaries of state, prefects, people in management positions in public agencies and institutions, the prime minister explained: “think that when you have people representing the government criticizing the prime minister through posts, which is not done in any government in this world, then if they don’t have the dignity to resign, you have to give it back to them by removing them from office.”
The Prime Minister specified that he will not dismiss all these civil servants: “People who don’t understand that being in a government is also an act of responsibility and public decency, you realize that if you can’t rely on them, the rational decision is to replace them. But not all people who are proposed by one party or another must be replaced just because they are from one party or another, because they are competent people, proposed by all parties, including the PSD. People who are there only on the basis of political support, but if they do not follow the government’s policy, they have no reason to stay”.
Bolojan argued that if the government is not dismissed by Parliament through a motion of no confidence, it will operate within the terms set by the Constitution. “This is an act of responsibility for our country, basically, not hanging on to office, because I told you, if there were some solutions to this crisis, if we saw some proposals, not just general statements.”
Bolojan claimed that one of the reasons PSD wants him gone is that he has disturbed several gray areas of the administration. One of these being the energy area. The Prime Minister claimed that he received, on Friday, the list of those who did business and blocked this energy zone and will publish them during the week.
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Rats in the pantry and referrals to DNA
Bolojan specified that he did not refer to social democrats as “rats in the pantry” but “to areas in the Romanian state that are systemically parasitized, where because I put the spotlight on them, because I took measures, they can no longer continue this parasitism, practically, of public budgets, which certainly disturbed everyone and those who were there, don’t imagine that they didn’t have some political support or someone from one party or another proposed it. I can’t afford to throw mud at one party or another, because I know many people from all the parties, from local councilors, mayors, parliamentarians, who are in good faith, but if you asked me about those from the PSD, I don’t know if they are aware tomorrow that everything they are told about government deficiencies, are things that do not correspond to reality.”
One of these things is the sale of state-owned companies. “A new lie that was aired in the public space, because here it is not about the sale of a company, but the sale of some shares, some minority stakes, which mean some important advantages for the administration of that company. First of all, by selling some minority shares, a private shareholder enters, which certainly ensures transparency and better management of the company, but the majority decision remains with the state, but the management can no longer be done underground.”
In addition, these operations were foreseen in the government program and were discussed in several meetings of the Coalition, the prime minister said.
Asked why he didn’t go to DNA if he found “rats” in the administration, Bolojan answered: “There are things that are up to the government to sort out and there are things that are up to the prosecutors’ offices. Think we have Exim Bank subletting its premises from a private intermediary instead of renting it for three times less from a state-owned firm. We’ve reported that. Think we’ve reported everywhere where the issues have had a criminal connotation.”
