Prime Minister Florin Citu on Saturday brought some clarifications on the conviction he received in the USA 20 years ago for driving under the influence (DUI), a crime for which he was also sent to jail for two days. The revelation has appeared recently in the press, causing tensions within the National Liberal Party (PNL) but also in the ruling center-right coalition in Romania. Florin Citu said that he regretted the incident, that at the time of his appointment as prime minister the legal procedures were observed, and that he was not considering tendering his resignation.
“No, not at all. We still have to rule and we need to end our mandate. We have reforms that we have started and that we need to carry out. An event that happened 21 years ago in the United States, which I regret, has no implications for what we do today, “the prime minister said at a news conference at Victoria Palace.
On the other hand, the prime minister said that he was “unpleasantly surprised” by the assessments of the coalition partners, according to which the US episode is a matter of morality.
“I also saw the statements and I was unpleasantly surprised, because I did not hear any statement when a director of CFR Călători left people for about eight hours without helping them or I did not see any discussions when the coalition partners were shaking Dragnea’s hand or when they had the PSD people next to them in the Government. So, I would like to have these discussions in the coalition, I agree to discuss there, but not in the public space, about morality and ethics “, he said, according to Agerpres.
Prime Minister Florin Citu also declared that alcohol should never be mixed with driving and that, after the episode occurred 21 years ago in the United States of America, he has learned his lesson.
He said that in the respective day it had been his roommate’s birthday and that he had been drinking beer.
“I think it was a Saturday, it was December 3. It was my roommate’s birthday and I was coming from there. I just know I exceeded it, I drank enough to exceed the legal limit. Otherwise I don’t know exactly … I think I drank beer (…) I can’t carry 7-8 beers, but I drank to exceed the legal limit and I was stopped by Police , said the head of the Executive.
Orban: Citu should apologize to the Romanian citizens for not having the courage and honesty to inform them about this dark episode in his life
PNL (National Liberal Party) chairman Ludovic Orban, on Saturday requested to the Prime Minister Florin Citu to apologize to the Romanians , in his next public statement, “for not having the courage and honesty” to inform them about the episode of 21 years ago, when it was convicted in the United States for driving under the influence of alcohol.
“I ask my colleague Florin Citu, that in the next public statement, to apologize to the Romanian citizens for not having the courage and honesty to inform them about this dark episode in his life.
And he should also apologize to me, that he never confessed to me that he was convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol, in all the discussions we had when he got my support for the most important positions in the state, “Ludovic Orban wrote on his Facebook page.
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