Ex-PM Ponta, Iasi mayor Chirica voice support for Grindeanu, slam Dragnea

As expected, the Social Democrat factioneers, former premier Victor Ponta (photo) and Iasi mayor Mihai Chirica voiced support for Sorin Grindeanu and slammed chairman Liviu Dragnea and his followers.

Ex-PM Ponta told journalists that Liviu Dragnea’s actions against the PSD members are not tolerable and that PSD chair’s threats that he will oust Grindeanu’s supporters from the party are “unacceptable”.

“I consider that all arguments presented by PM Grindeanu last night are correct and constitutional. He has my full support and I expect that all wrong decision adopted by the CEx at Liviu Dragnea’s pressure should be stopped (…),” Ponta stated.

Before the CeX meeting on Wednesday night, Victor Ponta posted a letter on Facebook, asking the SocDem leaders “not to let Liviu Dragnea be wrong again”, urging them to convince him “to put a premium on the PSD and Romania’s interests (even if that means to Dragnea should give up his pride and his strictly personal discontents)”.

“A party leadership that is publicly executing the Prime Minister and the Government after less than 6 months since elections, without any objective reason at all, is a wrong leadership,” says Ponta.

“A party leadership that expects his MPs to vote a censure motion against their own government is a wrong leadership,” the former PM argues.

In his turn, Iasi mayor Mihai Chirica, who also opposed Dragnea during the crisis this winter prompted by the GEO 13 that intended to decriminalize graft offenses, slammed as “Stalinist gamesmanships” all things that led to Dragnea’s attempt to sack Grindeanu.

“Mr. Grindeanu’s opposition to speed up the law package on the judiciary reform. It’s the first motivation. Then, the fact that Mr. Grindeanu started having personal opinions without consulting Dragnea, which has seriously offended Mr. Dragnea’s personality. Thirdly, it’s about the evil influence being exerted by a very restricted number of members,” Chirica said, as quoted by Ziarul de Iasi.

According to the maverick mayor, Dragnea is trying to hide his failures reported after winning elections in December, 2016.

“It’s the start of the end for Liviu Dragnea. I will keep on monitoring the Social Democrat policy until the end. I am not interested in these Stalinist gamesmanships. The CEx report aimed for a political decapitation, following Stalinist principles currently used in North Korea. What Mr. Dragnea cannot understand is that the new generation of politicians is trying to lay off Romania’s anchor in Europe. What Mr. Dragnea is doing is to throw us to North Korea or the ex-Soviet Union,” Chirica concluded.