Just two days before the vote on the motion against Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan, the liberals radicalize their speech and accuse a “behind the scenes” collaboration between PSD and AUR since the presidential elections of 2024, when the social democrats would have voted for George Simion.
“This is no longer a coincidence – it’s a pattern”
As the moment of the vote on the motion of censure against Ilie Bolojan approaches, political tensions rise visibly, and the camps involved intensify both their negotiations with parliamentarians they could attract to their side, as well as their public attacks.
In this context, the National Liberal Party adopts an increasingly harsh speech towards the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance for the Union of Romanians, which it accuses of being, although they publicly position themselves as enemies, behind the scenes collaborating for a long time to destabilize the PNL and the government.
PNL General Secretary Dan Motreanu claims that the relationship between PSD and AUR exceeds the level of a simple political rivalry and takes, in practice, the form of a collaboration of interests, stating that the two parties “are two sides of the same political system”, even if in the public space they present themselves as opponents.
“They declare themselves adversaries, but act as allies whenever interests demand it. This is no longer a coincidence – it is a pattern,” he wrote on Facebook, Sunday, May 3, just 2 days before the vote on the motion.
According to Motreanu, there are several indications that would suggest a rapprochement between the two formations and in support of his opinion he refers to the 2024 presidential elections, claiming that, in the first round, the AUR leader, George Simion, would have benefited from votes from the PSD electorate, following some “behind the scenes games”.
He also criticizes the position of the social democrats in the second round of the presidential elections in 2025, when they did not express their support for Nicușor Dan. In the opinion of the liberal leader, PSD’s decision to leave the “free vote” was not a neutral one, but a political calculation that would have indirectly favored the candidacy of George Simion, given that part of the social democrat electorate would have closer affinities to the AUR.
“In the 2024 presidential elections, in the first round, behind-the-scenes games meant votes from the PSD area for George Simion.
In 2025, PSD refused to support Nicușor Dan in the second round – not out of an alleged neutrality, but out of political calculation, knowing that part of his electorate is closer to AUR. “We leave the vote free”” meant, in fact, indirect help for George Simion.
And when it comes to real power? Common motions, common votes, common goals. It’s no wonder, when more and more former PESED members join AUR.
AUR is not a real alternative to PSD. It is, in practice, a useful appendage — a party that radicalises the discourse but stabilizes the PSD system.
PSD plays the role of “responsible”. AUR plays the role of the “rebel”.
But the result is the same: maintaining control and manipulating the electorate.
This is the true duplicity:
in public – conflict
behind the scenes – collaboration”, says the liberal.
“It’s time for them, if they still act together, to take it upon themselves. If they bring down the Government together, come forward and formalize this collaboration. Form the Government together and answer directly for the consequences. No backroom games. No ambiguity. No political theater.” Dan Motreanu concluded his message.
Ștefureac explains the population’s support for the PSD – AUR motion against the Government: Romanians prefer a modest but stable lifestyle
“We ended up having a public image of the “keychain” of the PSD”
For his part, Raluca Turcan sent a firm message, marking the approach of the decisive vote in Parliament on the censure motion against Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan: “AMR: 2 days”.
“Two days in which the PSD can decide if it respects the direction that Romania needs. If it respects the rules of public interest, not those of immediate political interest. If it understands that the PNL is no longer manageable and that we have firmly chosen the path of dignity and respect for the decisions taken.
The PNL–PSD relationship during the joint governments of recent years has been a succession of costly compromises. We made concessions that distanced us from the people — especially the urban people, the entrepreneurs, the active people who keep the economy going. We left the impression that we were at the mercy of the PSD, and this was seen and felt down to the grass. We ended up having a public image of PSD’s “keychain”, wrote Raluca Turcan on Facebook.
The former Minister of Culture also reviewed what it meant for the PNL to govern alongside the PSD.
“Perhaps we were too silent when some internal decisions were convenient for the PSD. The PNL mortgaged its electoral future for a momentary lull. It pursued immediate advantages instead of thinking strategically – as a party that aspires to 30%, not one that settles for 14%.
In 2019, in the European parliamentary elections, PNL obtained over 27% and won. I won with a clear, anti-PSD speech, with an assumed identity. Romanians trusted us exactly when we chose to be ourselves. I was not at the PSD table, but the alternative to it.
Since then, things went downhill for the PNL, until the 2024 and 2025 presidential elections, when we didn’t even make it to the second round. A shameful situation for a party that gave the president of Romania for 10 years!
Today, the lesson is simple: Compromise without direction erodes, and the cost—political and trust—is huge.
That is why the BPN resolution of April 21 is clear: if the PSD triggers a government crisis, the PNL will no longer be part of a coalition with this formation. It is not a threat, but a conclusion we reached after too many years in which we accepted electoral crumbs at the expense of a strategic course”, she concluded.
