Antonescu, supported by fellow party members and PSD

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According to PNL spokesman Mihai Voicu, the great majority of PNL leaders voiced at the BPC session yesterday their opposition to Calin Popescu Tariceanu’s proposal of primary party elections being held.

Waters remain muddled in the National Liberal Party (PNL) after the caustic words traded by Senator Calin Popescu Tariceanu, a former premier and former leader of the party, and the current party president, Crin Antonescu. After the statements he made late last week, the former PM was invited at yesterday’s Central Political Bureau (BPC) meeting to give explanations about his public outbursts. After the two-hour-plus meeting, Tariceanu said that some “hasty’ and “less experienced” fellow party members  misread the party statute amendment proposals (primary elections in PNL to assign the presidential candidate, as well as the uninominal election of party leadership members) he formally put before yesterday’s meeting, and pointed out he wouldn’t fuel a conflict within the  PNL. “I have the feeling that some interpretations, speculations made, distorted the essence of my proposal (…) and made my proposal, which aims basically at making the PNL operate in more democratic and modern fashion , into an internal conflict,” Mediafax quoted the Liberal as saying. PNL Spokesman Mihai Voicu hols that the majority of the party leaders expressed at the BPC meeting their opposition to Tariceanu’s proposal. “Without exception, the BPC members (…) who spoke on the issue took a public stand similar to that taken by some of the party leaders, presidents of party organizations and chairmen of county councils a few days ago, and who issued a relevant communique. (…) As far as we, the great majority of the PNL leaders, are concerned, the issue of the USL presidential candidate is closed, and not only for the PNL,” Voicu said. In his turn, PNL President Crin Antonescu yesterday said is inconvenient to a party to reach decisions only for somebody to question them the next day, since this creates a lack of clarity, is due to harm the party stand and   credibility. Asked whether Tariceanu had been asked to resign from the party at yesterday’s meeting, Antonescu answered negatively.

“I don’t accept lessons of fight against Basescu,” Tariceanu says

The previous day, Tariceanu said on RTV that he does not rule out the possibility of joining an internal race for designating the party candidate in the presidential elections of 2014, adding that the PNL Congress validated Antonescu as proposed candidate, as he was not elected by delegates. As for his possible expulsion from PNL, the former premier mentioned that it would be an “absurd” move meaning that he committed “a crime of opinion” – something that was punishable only in the communist era. He also rejected the accusations that his public statements of late coincide with the opinions of people who support Basescu. “I don’t accept lessons of fight against Basescu. Compared to the adversity between me and Basescu and the political conjecture of those years, now there are two parties, USL won, it is easy to resist against Basescu, which was not the case in those years, yet PNL succeeded by running alone in elections (…).”On the other hand, Tariceanu said that he twice proposed the acting leader of PNL to be a minister in his Cabinet, either of Education or of Foreign Affairs, but he turned down the invitations. The ex-PM also said that, given his status of former president of the party, he would have expected an invitation to help, especially as he announced he is available “to serve the USL.” “I cannot do more than this, meaning I will not go and knock on doors and ask something like this…” the Liberal explained.Antonescu was not late to answer him. The Liberal leader said that “not everybody in PNL” can be supported by PSD and PC for the position of presidential candidate. “If some people imagine that these are blanks on paper, which we fill like in crosswords as we please, they are very wrong. (…) This decision can only be changed by those who made it, meaning the congresses of the three parties, because of reasons pertaining to the designated candidate,” Antonescu said on Antena 3, adding that his nomination as candidate in the presidential elections was also voted by Tariceanu. In his turn, the secretary general of PSD, Liviu Dragnea ruled out the possibility that the Social-Democrats will support another person as presidential candidate.Antonescu also mentioned that he will talk with the minister of Interior, Radu Stroe and the president of CJ Ilfov, Marian Petrache about the media rumours that Petrache demanded the resignation of Stroe. “There was no discussion about the activity as minister of Radu Stroe, even less about firing him,” Crin Antonescu assured.