Preda to Blaga: ‘PDL leadership cannot be won by attacking the president’

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In the MEP’s opinion, neither Blaga nor Udrea is ‘a way out of the impasse’ and proposes a collegiate leadership consisting of three people until the 2014 presidential election.

The chair of PDL President, currently occupied by Vasile Blaga, is beginning to shake. The Democrat-Liberals do not seem the least willing to lose the president’s protection, even if he only has one an a half years left at Cotroceni (under the Constitution until the end of 2014 – o/n), being readier to sacrifice Blaga for the sake of preserving their partnership with Basescu. Such a position has been expressed by MEP Cristian Preda who, in an interview run by ‘Evenimentul Zilei’ daily yesterday, says that, ‘if Blaga thinks the presidency of PDL can be won by attacking the president, the party must have lost all direction’. Furthermore, he notes that PDL now has to take ‘an intelligence test’, meaning make a choice between remaining contained to the Vasile Blaga-Elena Udrea fight or accepting the new solution of a collegiate leadership consisting of three people until the 2014 presidential election. ‘A triumvirate would be a good solution for a collegiate management of the party. But are three PDL members able to agree on how to run the party?’ evz.ro quotes Preda as saying. The MEP adds that, ‘apart from three co-presidents there should be no more than seven vice presidents in charge of specific sectors, as well as a shadow cabinet of 12-13 portfolios, not 30. ‘These people should manage the opposition to the monster called USL and prepare internal elections for the European Parliament and presidential poll. After 18 months, we could draw the line, count the results and hold a Congress for 2016,’ he pointed out. In fact, the MEP seems not to be a supporter of either candidate for PDL president – Udrea or Blaga, noting that ‘a third way’ was needed. In his opinion, the two solutions are not ‘ways out of the impasse’. Asked why he would support ex-Justice Minister Monica Macovei’s possible candidacy for president of PDL, he avoided giving an answer. ‘I cannot say anything for now. Two people are in process of deliberating now and, if one decides to run, I will support him/her (EVZ sources suggest it could be Monica Macovei and Adrian Papahagi).’ On the other hand, if he has to chose between Blaga and Udrea, Preda says he will abstain from voting.

Basescu attacks Blaga again

The president keeps acting as a referee in the power battle in PDL. In a Facebook post with the title ‘Standing by our president’, Basescu has declared his antipathy for the current leader of the party again, saying that, between he and the PDL president there had been absolutely no dialogue after the parliamentary election in December 2012, and that there could be none as long as the party was steered by the current team. ‘Dear supporters, I have decided to post this message on your Facebook page, because I feel I need to clarify a few things regarding the debate I seem to have caused in PDL lately, on the state the party is now in. My intervention is legitimate, as I and PDL share the same electorate,’ the president states. Traian Basescu stresses that, if the current PDL leaders take the risk of misrepresenting their own failures, he refuses to do the same. The president also notes that he is not impressed by the PDL leaders’ warning that they will fight back should he continue to make statements on the state of the party.

Udrea: I’m not withdrawing from the competition

PDL MP Elena Udrea said Monday night she had not intention to withdraw from the race to PDL leadership as long as the competition was fair and no one was trying from the ‘buttons’ of the Convention organisation, to drive a certain outcome. On the other hand, she rejected Vasile Blaga’s allegations suggesting certain pressure being put by herself on Democratic-Liberal mayors to get their support in the internal election. ‘If there is one person able to say that someone, I or someone else, has put pressure on them regarding the party election, let them come forward with it! Or Mr. Blaga should come and disclose their names. This is not my way of doing politics.

MRU: call to calm

Civic Force President Mihai Razvan Ungureanu said yesterday that ‘a virus of disunion’ was beginning to spread ahead of the PDL internal election and called upon PDL to act with calm and reason, adding that all candidates for the office of PDL president ought to set their egos aside. He said that, in the PDL internal battle, ‘the tone had decreased considerably below the political expectations’ of the centre-right electorate and that the genuine interest should be the vision PDL should have, as well as a debate on motions, rather than ‘a ping-pong of acidic reactions causing a disappointment the Civic Force can sense’.