“Mr. Iohannis must understand he lost elections and must accept PSD’s nomination for PM. We also handed him out out ruling programme and I am convinced he will find a way to nominate Alexandru Rafila as PM”, said Ciolacu before the consultations.
PNL insists on having both the PM and the Chamber speaker positions
PNL chairman Ludovic Orban said after the consultations with the head of state that the Liberals had informed Iohannis about the stage of the negotiations to form a centre right-wing coalition. Orban has also informed the President that PNL has two proposals: Florin Citu as PM and Ludovic Orban as speaker of the Chamber of Deputies.
“We informed the President about the stag of the negotiations and about our desire to continue negotiations that should lead to a centre right wing majority“, Orban said, adding that PNL denied the idea of a national union government and accepting PSD in it.
USR-PLUS won’t give up either
President Iohannis told the USR-PLUS leaders who came for consultations that the topic of the discussion is clear: “a possible majority, a possible government”.
USR-PLUS co-chairman Dan Barna said after the meeting that their message had also been in favor of the centre right-wing coalition, yet they insisted that PNL can have both the PM and Chamber speaker positions, and advanced Dacian Ciolos as their PM nomination.
“The President agreed that we continue negotiations. And he also agreed to one thing: certain things cannot be decided in Parliament. We cannot start a marathon with a broken leg”, Barna said.
He added that Dacian Ciolos will be PM in case PNL will choose to have the leadership of the Chamber of deputies.
“The stake is very clear, after we manage to find a balanced solution, Romania’s chance will be a real one (…) USR-PLUS want a centre right-wing coalition to govern with a 4-year mandate, not just for six months or one year”, said Dacian Ciolos in his turn.
AUR delegation, late to the meeting
The leaders of AUR, the new party that entered Parliament, have arrived at the consultations with the Romanian President with a delay of 15 minutes. Senator Diana Sosoaca, a declare anti-mask person, who announced she would not wear a protection mask during the talks, has eventually had a mash, but only covering her mouth, not also the nose, arguing “she has medical issues”. She also had a live Facebook transmission from the meeting.
After the talk with President Iohannis, AUR leader George Simion said that no coalition is being forecast due to the disagreements among the parties. “Apparently we from AUR stirred things up and we are happy about that. They should give up the fight for the bone”, Simion stated, adding that their nominated PM is Călin Georgescu, the former executive director of the National Centre for Sustainable Development.
UDMR no PM nomination
UDMR leader Kelemen Hunor said that UDMR wants a coalition with PNL and USR-PLUS and thatUDMR has advanced no PM nomination during the consultations with the President, arguing this position must go to the party in the coalition that obtained the highest electoral score, while PNL and USR-PLUS should get the leadership of the two chambers of the parliament. “We have no preference”, Kelemen Hunor said.
He added though that they will have a PM nomination if there is no agreement by the next round of consultations.