The first meeting of the ruling Social Democrat Party (PSD) National Standing Bureau (BPN) discussed the 2015 political agenda, essential projects like changing the Constitution, the electoral system and the party financing laws, and government priorities – especially social measures.
Opening the Monday meeting, Prime Minister Victor Ponta, the president of PSD, voiced his determination to rule until 2016 and not to allow those who ‘crushed Romanians in 2010-2011’ return to power, reports Agerpres.
‘Based on the talks we already had in the Executive Committee and on the majority vote in the Parliament on December 15, it is quite obvious the people voted us to rule; that we governed fine over these years, and that we will govern better in 2015 and 2016. I think it is our obligation towards all those who voted for us – or didn’t – to govern better and to show that we implement all the projects for which we got the vote,’ Ponta declared.
He added that the party must prepare for the 2016 local and parliamentary elections.
‘I see the hunger of some people who were in the government of Emil Boc and who were chased from governing by the people. Now they want to return and resume their deeds of 2010, 2010. I think we have to protect the folks against those who scourged them in 2010 and 2011, from their positions in Boc’s government; and we do protect the people, and we are doing our duty towards those who voted us,’ Ponta claimed.
PNL is not prepared for governing
PM Victor Ponta stated on Sunday evening at Romania TV that in his “subjective” point of view, PNL is not prepared to overtake the Government, despite of the fact that they are hurrying to do it. “PNL is not prepared for governing, and when I see all the members in the Boc Government, I am merely thinking that USL would not have won the elections by 60 per cent if they had governed well. There is only one thing bothering me. It is normal that they want to govern, even if what we are witnessing now is a rush, a hunger for overtaking the Government. Yet it is abnormal for them to claim that the country is in a crash. It is not true. It is said everywhere that Romania is very well positioned”, Ponta declared for Romania TV.
On Sunday, PM Victor Ponta made a plea to PNL for cooperation, because, according to him, there are a series of projects that may only be adopted in partnership with the opposition. He added that, in his point of view, PSD would continue governing until 2016. “We are most likely to continue governing until the elections of November or December 2016 and, anyway, as long as we have the majority in the Parliament. There are many projects we may adopt only in partnership with the oposition: there should be a new electoral system, we must make a new electoral law and know how we would vote for a new Parliament with at least a year in advance. There is need for a new law on party funding, as we all complained that we should have a new one. There are laws of interest for all citizens, such as the new Tax Code that must be discussed and adopted during the first session. There is need for stability in the field of taxes. If they come and say that they want to change that, we would better not adopt it and leave the old one unchanged. The same goes for the royalties’ law”, Ponta said. “If we continue this battle between power and opposition, neither of them will pass. The worst thing for citizens is if something changes continuously”, Victor Ponta explained live for Romania TV. Under the circumstances that PNL had threatened to file a motion of censure, the Prime Minister mentioned: “I do not fear betrayal, it is obvious that I have no element disposed to this, but, certainly, the members of the opposition, after the voting on December 15, when there were 377 votes for the Government and 134 against, are fully entitled to try persuading and attracting 140 MPs by their side, to pass a motion of censure. I personally do not think that it would happen,” PM Ponta told Romania TV.
A plan of the big PNL based on Vanghelie is weird
Also, on Sunday evening, Ponta mocked the idea of a partnership between PNL and the MPs close to Marian Vanghelie and Mircea Geoana, pointing out that he did not fear betrayals in the case of an eventual motion of censure aimed the make the Government fall. He outlined that a plan of the “Grand PNL” based on Vanghelie would be weird, to say the least. “I do not believe in any common plans of Mr. Vanghelie and Mr. Geoana, but it is their right and it is democratic. To be very straightforward, I hope that PNL is not building their plan on overtaking the Government based on the support of Mr. Vanghelie, because it would be a weird situation, to say the least. If the Grand PNL is based on Marian Vanghelie, they are in for trouble, but it is none of my business”, Ponta declared for Romania TV.
PNL’ Predoiu: Ponta gained some courage and restarted media shows
PNL Prime-Vice-President Catalin Predoiu, Victor Ponta’s eventual successor in a PNL Government issued a harsh reply to Ponta after the latter’s statements of Sunday for Romania TV. Ponta had claimed to see “a hunger to overtake the power” shown by the members of PNL although they are not prepared in his opinion. Predoiu responded to the Prime Minister on his Facebook page, outlining that the “hunger for power” is the one that actually makes PM Victor Ponta “to cling to his chair in Palace Victoria”, yet his poor governing is leading to “genuine disaster”. Predoiu thus uses the approach that annoys Victor Ponta, as the Premier pointed out that actually Romania is doing fine economically and it is appreciated internationally. “PM Ponta has gained some courage and has restarted media shows. Not only that the country started declining when Victor Ponta was appointed Prime Minister but, after three years of reckless spending, irresponsibility and poor governing, the country is heading to genuine disaster. Due to the “good reputation” the Prime Minister has gained abroad, Romania has become a pariah for investors. PM Ponta has no idea about how Romania’s budget was supposed to look like or about the risks threatening to impact Romania, under the circumstances that peace is no longer a reality in the world or in the region”, Predoiu declared.
He also attacked that TV stations Antena 3 and RTV, calling them “the personal barking dogs of the Prime Minister” and accusing them of presenting polls that show that Romanians are doing fine, when, actually, they are facing massive financial challenges. “Obviously, for the Ponta marionette, priorities will always be based on the barons’ interests, that will always stop him from assuming the economical measures that would stimulate fair competition and economical increase. And homemade opinion polls and the Prime Minister’s two personal “barking dogs” – Antena 3 and RTV – will repeat every day that Romanians are doing just fine, although their pockets are emptier by the day”, Predoiu also mentioned. His conclusion was that all Romanians have “the duty” to ask for the Prime Minister’s resignation. Predoiu also reminded of the ordinance recently issued by the Government so that the Prime Minister could get rid of the plagiarizing issue. “All Romanians who love their country have the moral duty of asking for his resignation. I wonder, if the hunger for power did not make Ponta cling to the chair in the Victoria Palace, how he would have escaped the issue of plagiarizing. Who would have issued an emergency ordinance for the ‘small’ problem that appears as the biggest stain on the Prime Minister’s resume?” Predoiu concluded.
