The PNL leadership, in session for 5 hours. The result of the talks, after Bolojan asked for a vote of confidence / What a defeat he suffered
Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan received a vote of confidence in the party on Monday evening. The PNL meeting lasted almost 5 hours. However, the proposal to dismiss the management of ten underperforming branches did not go to a vote, as the Liberal leader himself had requested.
The leadership of the National Liberal Party was asked if Ilie Bolojan still has the support of the party to continue as prime minister. The final result was 47 votes “for” supporting Bolojan and three “against”, according to HotNews sources who attended the meeting.
In addition to the categorical vote of support to continue as prime minister, Ilie Bolojan also suffered a defeat in the meeting on Monday evening.
The Prime Minister asked the PNL leadership for a vote and for the dismissal of the branch presidents who recorded poor results in the elections. More specifically, the 10 branches with the worst results would have had new management. However, Ilie Bolojan's proposal was voted down.
At last year's PNL Congress, the party reintroduced in the party's statute, at the proposal of Ilie Bolojan, the rule that the presidents of the 10 branches with the worst results should be dismissed from office.
The official announcement of the PNL
At the end of the meeting, PNL sent an official statement in which it also talks about “the proposal to dismiss the management of the last ten county organizations”.
The official announcement confirms the information obtained by HotNews during the meeting and provides some details about the vote that Bolojan lost regarding the dismissal of the management of these branches.
PNL specifications:
“The National Political Bureau of the National Liberal Party met today in a meeting, in which the president of the National Liberal Party, Ilie Bolojan, and the Minister of Finance, Alexandru Nazare, presented the main directions of the economic recovery package, which is being finalized. The Minister of Finance emphasized that the package was built following the analyzes of a working group, so that the proposed measures are compatible with Romania's macroeconomic objectives and support economic development in the medium and long term.
The economic recovery package is structured on two major levels. The first aims to reshape state aid schemes by launching seven dedicated programmes, including for critical mineral resources and raw materials, research and development and new technologies, and the defense industry. The second tier has a broad fiscal component, addressed to micro-enterprises and the entire business environment.
Also, in today's meeting, a vote of confidence was given for the president of the party, Ilie Bolojan. Following the secret ballot, 47 votes for and 3 votes against were recorded, confirming the majority support of the party leadership for the current PNL leader.
During the same meeting, the PNL leadership established, by vote, the appointment of Mr. Marius Arcăleanu as interim president of PNL Vaslui.
The National Political Bureau also analyzed the proposal to dismiss the leadership of the last ten county organizations. After the vote, the result was as follows: 35 votes for, 6 votes against and 9 abstentions. Also, five PNL leaders were absent from the vote. Since the two-thirds qualified majority required by the statute (37 votes) was not met, the dismissal proposal was not adopted, and the managements of the respective branches retain their mandate“.
PNL MEP Rareş Bogdan launched, on Monday, a new attack on the party's president, Ilie Bolojan, commenting on the possibility that the prime minister may ask for a vote of confidence to see if he still enjoys the party's support. This, after he was criticized by several liberals, including the president of the Ilfov County Council, Hubert Thuma.
Rareș Bogdan: “Ilie, you cannot ask for a vote of confidence from month to month”
The vote of confidence for Ilie Bolojan was requested in the context of the attacks launched recently against the prime minister by some of the PNL members. One of them is the MEP Rareș Bogdan. Before the start of the meeting with the PNL leadership, Rareș Bogdan stated that he would like the party to understand the need for investments in Romania.
The MEP also said that he spoke with the president of the PNL, Ilie Bolojan, after a meeting that took place on Monday, at the Parliament.
“He called me after the meeting (no. Ilie Bolojan). I told him: “Ilie, my grievances are that you don't allow exploitation”. Everyone is looking for rare metals from the United States, to China, from Argentina, to Great Britain, France, they are looking for rare metals, only we keep them in the ground and refuse to exploit them”, said Rareş Bogdan, quoted by News.ro.
The MEP also commented on the idea of a vote of confidence in the PNL meeting for Ilie Bolojan, arguing that if he wants to ask for a vote of confidence, he should hold a National Council and talk to the mayors.
“Ilie, you can't ask for a vote of confidence from month to month. Ilie Bolojan is elected president of the National Liberal Party. We have a congress in a year and a half, not now”, declared Rareș Bogdan.
He says that the first people Ilie Bolojan should consult with are the mayors – “those who deal with the people” – and communicate better with those in the party.
On Monday, Ilie Bolojan also won an internal battle in Parliament against the Thuma camp of the PNL: Gabriel Andronache was appointed the leader of the PNL group in the Chamber of Deputies and Patricia Moș, secretary. The two practically kept their positions after people close to the Thuma wing of the PNL also applied for these positions today.
Hubert Thuma is the president of the Ilfov County Council and is the main opponent of Ilie Bolojan in the PNL.
