PNL spokesman Ionuţ Stroe said on Monday that the current political trajectory should not be encouraged by arguments aimed at similar situations in the past. The Liberal stated that it is “incorrect” that the social democrats are supporters of such exchanges at the local level
Ionuț Stroe: PNL was the party most affected by this political migration Photo: Inquam Photos
“Let's clarify one thing: invoking similar experiences from the past is not an argument to encourage political trasesism, so any kind of experience of movement, of mobility of these mayors from one party to another in the past cannot constitute, at the moment of face, a reason to justify or encourage the change of party on the eve of the elections“, said Stroe, at the Parliament, when asked about the situation in Timiş in which several mayors left the National Liberal Party and joined the PSD, but also about the fact that the social democrats say that the PNL did the same in last.
Stroe mentioned, regarding the PNL coalition partner relationship, that it is “icorrect” to be practiced on the eve of the elections “this exchange“.
“Now, we have to be very honest and admit: this is mainly manifested or accentuated at the time of the renewal of mandates. It would be fair, honest and honest for a mayor to go and answer to the electorate alongside the party on whose lists he was elected. As for our relationship with the coalition partners, it is obviously incorrect that on the eve of the elections you practice this, let's call it exchange, because, regardless of the meaning (…,) we have never appreciated the migration of local elected officials. It is a harmful thing. It obviously affects and diminishes people's trust in elected officials, but also in institutions. It is unfair, firstly to the partners and secondly to the public will, to the citizens who voted for a local elected official, whether he is named mayor or councilor on the lists of a certain political party alongside which, obligatorily, from this point of view, he must exercise his mandate to the end“, explained Ionuţ Stroe, according to Agerpres.
Asked if there should be an agreement between the two governing parties to stop taking each other's local elected officials or party members in the run-up to the election, Stroe said:I don't know if a pact or an agreement between the parties would help, because regardless of the agreements that have been made so far in the short post-decembrist Romanian history, migration has manifested itself in all senses”.
“There should be an agreement between the parties in principle, but obviously you cannot prevent this with this document. I think that at the level of public perception and the way in which people judge the chosen ones there should be a paradigm shift, speaking of the trust that people give at a certain moment and the way in which it can be betrayed by moving to another party“, added the liberal.
Stroe: PNL was the party most affected by this political migration
Asked about the fact that PNL also took 19 organizations from AUR, Ionuţ Stroe said: “Regardless of the meaning in which this movement occurs, it is a harmful phenomenon and will remain so”.
“Moreover, during the time, PNL, as you well know, was the party most affected by this political migration, which at one point was even legislated by the famous Ordinance 55. I recall that at least 450 liberal mayors were transferred with weapons and luggage at the time. We don't want to end up in that situation again. I don't think it's necessary to comment too much on the small local misunderstandings that exist at the moment. The situations cannot be alike, obviously, but it is certainly something we disavow, regardless of the meaning in which it occurs“, he added.
PSD Timiș President, Alfred Simonis, announced on Saturday, February 24, 2024, that he managed to collect several mayors and vice-mayors from PNL, USR, PMP and the Republican Party. According to PSD Timiș, it would be eight mayors and eight vice mayors from other parties.
