Social Democrats gathered on Tuesday in Craiova, within the party’s National Council, an occasion where Prime Minister Victor Ponta sought the support of his PSD fellows to run for this autumn’s presidential elections.
The 6,000 Social Democrats gathered in Craiova received a leaflet with the slogan “Powerful Romania” starting with an attack of Victor Ponta against Traian Basescu, and explaining the reason why July 29 was chosen for the organization of the National Council. “I want justice till the end. I want to punish those guilty, those who harmed Romania. Corruption, clans, plundering public money has to be stopped.
The judiciary must be helped to become independent of politics to really work freely and efficiently. To really change things, the Basescu regime must not return to the country’s helm, Traian Basescu must no longer control the power mechanisms,” Ponta says in the leaflet.
Ponta also said he wants to be a president useful to Romania and its citizens and his project for the Romanians’ future as a nation is a powerful Romania. “I’m not authoritarian, nor I order things, I don’t like to impose or inspire fear, I prefer to listen, try to understand and give good advice,” the leaflet reads.
PNL and PDL criticized the presidential candidacy of Victor Ponta. PNL asks PM Ponta to give up the event for the launch of his candidacy to the presidential elections and reschedule it for another time, when the situation of floods nationwide is solved. PDL presidential candidate Catalin Predoiu claims that the announcement of Victor Ponta to join the race for Cotroceni means handing over the PSD candidacy to the ruling circles in the party that kept him at the Victoria Palace and rule the country on his behalf.
PM: In 2015 we must actually proceed with decentralization
Prime Minister Victor Ponta also lobbied in Craiova for the decentralization, saying it must be done in 2015, that this project must not be abandoned, stating that he still supports it.
‘Until November it’s going to be harder, yes, the principle is correct and if you ask me in 2015 we must start all over, as the Constitutional Court said, not all at once, but in 2015 we must actually proceed with decentralization. (…) I still believe the best solution is decentralization and I believe that mayors, local councils, county councils, can manage better than a minister in Bucharest’, said the Prime Minister at the General Assembly of Romanian Cities that is taking place at the headquarters of the Dolj County Prefecture.
“I’ll give you one example. We have in Romania an administration more powerful than the Government and the Parliament, that is RADEF, in charge of cinema halls, everyone failed, both the Boc Government, and the Ungureanu Cabinet, us included, you all have in your cities abandoned cinema halls, rats, all sorts of things, street children, we changed the Board, we have tried, we changed the law … ,” Ponta said.
Ponta explains why he chose Craiova
Prime Minister Victor Ponta told RTV late on Monday that the holding of the PSD’s National Council, on Tuesday, in Craiova, is due to the fact that Oltenia is the region closest to his heart, as well as due to the electoral score recorded by the Craiova-based Social Democrats in the European Parliament elections. ‘It is an electoral pool and it is my region. I care for Targu Jiu and I love Targu Jiu, but, however, Craiova is the capital of Oltenia. And with a mayoress as Olguta Vasilescu and with the organization that brought the highest number of votes in the country in the European Parliament elections, they deserved this,’ said PSD leader when asked why he chose Craiova to launch his presidential candidacy. Victor Ponta added that the PSD organizes events in almost all regions of the country, but they considered that the region of Oltenia and the city of Craiova deserve to hold the National Council.
The Premier also told Romania TV that he is a candidate for President the whole country knows everything about, also because of the attacks of President Basescu, adding that he is not at all worried the head of state could blackmail him. What I did twenty years ago, ten years ago, about my family, my friends, as well as my enemies. Mr. Basescu and his propaganda have taken care to reveal the worst and most abstruse things in my past,’ said Victor Ponta when asked if the Social Democratic Party (PSD) Senator Ilie Sarbu, his father-in-law, might represent vulnerability for his presidential candidacy.
In Ponta’s view, during his term it has been succeeded to free the justice system from under President Traian Basescu’s control and proof to that is that part of the Romanian leader’s family are being held to account ‘before the justice system’. I have not taken over the reins of the justice system in any way whatsoever, but we have succeeded in freeing it from Traian Basescu – proof to it is that part of Mr Basescu’s family, who do (criminal) businesses and have criminal ties are now being held to account. /…/ Yes, I think Traian Basescu has put political control on the justice system for many years. I think our role has been to lift this political control’, Ponta said.
