The fiscal measures that the Government must undertake prompted tensions within the Coalition, and the PNL and PSD leaders are unable to reach a consensus. The additional taxation of properties whose value exceeds 500,000 euros is the new bone of contention between the National Liberal Party (PNL) and the Social Democratic Party (PSD).
After Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu spoke about the possibility of resignation, if Liberals will not support the fiscal measures that should bring more money to the state budget, the leaders of the two parties continue to attack and threaten each other.
PNL first vice-president Rareș Bogdan attacks Marcel Ciolacu and says that the liberals do not bow to the PSD chairman and incumbent PM.
“This voluntarily induced conditioning, obviously repeated, sounds to me like a threat or more clearly, a direct blackmail! If the Romanian people do not accept to do what I want, if the National Liberal Party disputes my economic-fiscal measures, I will trigger early elections in Romania! Marcele, you are neither Mihai Viteazu, nor Ștefan cel Mare, nor Alexandru Ioan Cuza, i.e. statesmen who entered the consciousness and history of Romanians and Romania, but you are only the temporary president of the PSD. (…) PNL does not bow down and does not bow before you, Marcel Ciolacu! Any threat and pressure on us, the liberals, will be met by a firm and assumed position of the leadership of the National Liberal Party”, the first vice-president of the PNL told Digi24.
Rareș Bogdan also says that the PNL “is not obliged to accept the proposals to increase taxes and fees that would seriously affect the Romanian business environment and have already generated great anxiety among Romanian citizens. “It’s the worst attack on property since Iliescu!“, said Rareș Bogdan.
The public attack of the first vice-president of the PNL comes after Marcel Ciolacu said in a show on Aleph News that he would resign as prime minister if the PNL “does not understand the situation and what is at stake”.
From the SocDem camp, PSD vice-president Mihai Tudose also slammed Rareș Bogdan, telling he Coalition partners that if “they continue to boycott the state reform, there might be snap elections“.
“We find out through the (authorized?) voice of the first vice-president of the PNL RB a lot of things… He feels threatened by the announcement of the prime minister that we return to the people (anticipated) if the PNL continues to boycott any reform of the state! Why are you afraid?!? We also learn that PSD “threatens property”… The pool tax is a big threat…!!!!”, Tudose said in a Facebook post. He warned the liberals that in the last election they came in second place and that it is “a performance that you will not repeat.”
“Since 2019, the right has governed alone for a long period of time. Price of hundreds of billions of euros.(…) The due date has come! Don’t like PSD solutions? Do you have better ones? We hear you! Dear yellow ally, the situation is as follows: either you get a constructive position and together we straighten the country… or we return to the people and see how you do when you rattle the horseshoes and the world will ask you what you did with the horse!”, Tudose further stated.
Among the proposals regarding the increase of certain fees and taxes in order to collect money for the state budget, there is also the additional taxation of properties that exceed the value of 500,000 euros. The proposal was made by the PSD and is not wanted by the PNL.
Romanian PM Marcel Ciolacu told the private broadcaster Aleph News on Monday night that the government intends to adopt a third emergency ordinance aimed at combating tax evasion, after the adoption of the two emergency ordinances, on reduction of budget expenditures and on fiscal measures.
“There will be measures that (…) I saw that it appeared on the news: the Romanian state will take 50 pct of the amounts that one cannot justify. I did not discuss it with the minister (of Finance, ed. n.), because he did not present it to me, but it was news somehow presented as evil. If one can’t justify where they got the money from, in any state in this world, doesn’t the state take it from them?!”, said Ciolacu.
He added that by the end of August, the renegotiation of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan with the representatives of the European Commission will have to be concluded.
“We have until 31 August to finish the negotiations to modify the PNRR, respectively to reduce some grants, of 2.1 billion euros, because we had an economic growth of 0.3 over 5 pct,” PM Ciolacu explained.
According to the PM, he will travel to Brussels for this purpose, mentioning other topics that will be the subject of the renegotiation, namely the milestone regarding the percentage of 9.4 pct of GDP for pensions, the REPower EU chapter – through which Romania would receive 1.7 billion euros more in the energy sector.