The National Liberal Party decided on Saturday, within the National Council, to eliminate the right to vote for the organization of liberal women in the National Political Bureau, and the change threatens the party’s reform process.
Photo inquam Photos / Octav Ganea
The decision to exclude from the internal voting process the organization for women and the one for young people comes before the vote in the Congress in which Ilie Bolojan would be voted in the position of president of the party, but also in the context in which the party did not propose any woman for the new government office that the Liberal leader runs.
Inside PNL, women and youth organization have cataloged the initiative as a return to the Middle Ages ”and said that the decision offers “A perfect example of how to build the regress under the mask of modernization.” The gesture was harshly criticized even from the PSD, through Victoriei Stoiciu’s voice, vice -president of the party, who stressed that the decision would have political effects and pointed out that “In a context in which political extremism gains ground with an anti-right and anti-diversity discourse, the pro-European and democratic parties should be the first to say: women’s rights are not negotiable.”
The reason for the decision was not explained by the political formation, but among the new rules imposed by Ilie Bolojan, the elimination of the voting process of the organizations that did not pay the contributions provided in the statute until the month before the Congress.
Alina Gorghiu, former head of the PNL, announces the change of PNL status with the Congress on July 12, in order to ensure a balanced representation of women. “After insistence for years, I have achieved a big thing for women who will boldly assume candidates today: women will have their place on lists in PNL. PNL status will provide voluntary female quotas in Parliament, Government and Local Administration“, The senator said.
Lack of competence of PNL women invoked by Ilie Bolojan
Asked in a press conference why PNL did not propose women to lead the ministries, Ilie Bolojan replied: “PNL must encourage that performing people, women or men, be supported, created color. We tried to propose competent people. It was less important what we are”.
“It is a measure that gives very stupid, especially from a reformer. But the PNL, unfortunately, goes on a relatively conservative line from this point of view. For a long time, very few women have been promoted by this party over the last 35 years. And I do not understand why, that PNL, theoretically, was one of the parties that promoted a woman, I did not have a woman. It is competent neither his reign, even if he was president ”, stresses the sociologist Gelu Sunday.
The sociologist also points out that the explanation offered by the interim leader of the PNL, Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan, is surprising, especially in the context in which PNL has hundreds of women in the organizations in the country and outside: “What bothers me louder is not the fact that there are no women in the government. But it is for the first time, as far as I remember, when I hear such an argument – I did not find women in the PNL. Two, why was the right to vote for the women’s organization? (…) totally absurd and totally strange. Women are better educated than us, static, than us, men. Women voted more democratically than men, again statistically. But women are the ones who need to be supported only when they are beaten, unfortunately. Strange, very strange. “
Great parties without women in the government
In the Government there are now only two women as minister, Oana Țoiu and Diana Buzoianu, proposed by the USR for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and that of the Environment. PSD, PNL and UDMR did not propose another woman on the list of ministers in the negotiations. Two women were also formerly in the second government office led by Marcel Ciolacu (May 2025-June 2025)-Natalia Intotero (PSD) and Simona Oprescu (PSD). In the first cabinet led by Marcel Ciolacu (June 2023 – December 2024) there were 6 women, even after replacing the former minister of family and youth, Gabriela Firea.
The cabinet led by former Liberal Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă (November 2021 – June 2023) had two women as minister, Gabriela Firea and Ligia Deca, for about 9 months.
The cabinet led by Florin Cîțu (December 2020 – November 2021) had only one woman, on Raluca Turcan, as Minister of Labor, and the cabinet of Ludovic Orban (March 2020 – December 2020) had three women in the position of minister, Raluca Turcan, Monica Anisie and Violeta Alexandru.
Laws abandoned in Parliament
In the Parliament there are two legislative initiatives that provide for the introduction of gender quotas in the electoral lists of the parties, both submitted in 2022 and blocked from 2023. One of the projects provides for a minimum representation of 33% for both women and men. The project was adopted by the Senate in the same month in which it was submitted, May 2022. Since then it was blocked at the Chamber of Deputies, where it received one year away, in April 2023, a favorable opinion from the Commission for Public Administration. The initiator, Simona Maya Teodoroiu, died in October 2024.
The second project was submitted by the former senator Gabriela Firea in October 2022 and provides for the observance of a minimum representation, both in the case of women and the men, of 30% regarding the candidates of the political formations in the local elections. The initiative also has the signature of the former prime minister and head of the PSD, Marcel Ciolacu, but he has not been more successful, and now Gabriela Firea is MEP.
Now there are 101 women in the legislative, out of a total of 464 parliamentarians. 73 are in the Chamber of Deputies and 28 in the Senate. PNL, a party that has 72 members, has brought 9 women in the legislative, and USR 14 of the 59 members. The largest number of women is at PSD, 29, but here are most members, ie 131.
In the European Parliament, of the 33 Romanian elected, there are only 5 women. PSD has two MEP women, and PNL, SOS and Gold each have a single representative.
