Heated discussions within the National Liberal Party, after transcripts from Monday’s meeting revealed harsh criticism of the PSD and fears about the future of the Coalition. Liberal leaders have spoken openly about the risks of a political rupture and the possible scenarios in the event of a change of government.
According to the transcripts that appeared in the public space, the meeting of the PNL leaders was marked by sharp statements regarding the relationship with the governing partners. According to Gândul, the general secretary of the party, Dan Motreanu, would have launched one of the harshest criticisms: “Today, PSD is a dead party from my point of view. It is an isolated party, and AUR has caught that PSD is using them to try to recover its electorate. Bolojan is now doing what he has been doing for 20 years in the administration: good governance.”
On the same note, leaders from the territory described a sharp weakening of the PSD. Mircea Roșca, the president of PNL Prahova, allegedly stated: “I have never seen a PSD on its knees like now.”
Warnings about breaking up the Coalition
In parallel, several liberal leaders drew attention to the consequences of a possible exit from the government. Senator Vasile Blaga stated: “Whoever breaks the Coalition disappears from the political scene”and Gheorghe Falcă, PNL vice-president, added: “He who leads to the fall of the Government will remain alone.”
The theme of political stability was doubled by discussions about the leadership of the Executive. First Vice-President Cătălin Predoiu expressed his support for the current prime minister: “We continue only with Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan. The story with joint lists with PSD is no longer conceivable”.
Inside the party, however, there are concerns about a possible withdrawal of the PSD from the government. Nicoleta Pauliuc directly raised this issue: “And what do we do if PSD votes on April 20 to leave the government?”.
The reply came quickly from Gigel Știrbu: “What to do? We go to the Opposition or to the people. We have nowhere else to go”.
Demarcation from AUR and the need for clarity
Alina Gorghiu emphasized the need for a clear direction and a firm positioning towards the AUR: “You wanted to be in government, you wanted to be the prime minister of this Coalition and I think you must be the one who sets the pace in the Coalition. (…) It is not clear to me if we all want to stay in government. To say now that the PNL wants to leave the government means that we are generating a political crisis. (…) I want the public communication project to be explicit: not with GOLD, if we still want to be frequented. (…) I think we have to make this clear demarcation between us and these extremists”.
Bolojan: “We don’t have to say more than we have to”
Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan would have tried to moderate the discussions and avoid assuming premature scenarios: “Do we think that PNL can still stay in a coalition with PSD? That if they generate a government crisis, we don’t have to say with whom we do this government. That, if they do this, they, basically, renounce the government, not us”.
At the end of the meeting, several leaders asked for clarifications regarding the direction of the party: “Do we remain in the Opposition or with whom do we enter the government?“.
Deputy Robert Sighiartău allegedly avoided a direct answer: “We don’t answer that”, and the prime minister closed the discussion: “Dear colleagues, we don’t have to say more than we have to say”.
