PSD minister asked about Bolojan's removal, after Grindeanu's announcement. “There are colleagues who believe that we have lost the founding mission of social democracy”
Sorin Grindeanu and Ilie Bolojan. Photo: Inquam Photos / Octav Ganea
The social-democratic Minister of Labor, Florin Manole, said on Wednesday evening that “there are dissatisfactions” in the party regarding some of the measures taken by the coalition government led by PNL leader Ilie Bolojan.
Asked on B1 TV if the social democrats want to remove Ilie Bolojan from the position of prime minister, considering the PSD leader's statements, Florin Manole said: “As a minister, I think it is appropriate to be reserved in relation to the prime minister's political course. I can, however, say that, yes, there are dissatisfactions in the Social Democratic Party. I don't think I am being uncollegial if I say this, and anyway I am not telling any secret.”
“There are colleagues who believe that we have lost the founding mission, so to speak, of social democracy with certain measures that have been taken. We are not saying this now for the first time. The discussion about CASS for pensions was public and we spoke out against it then as well. The discussion about the VAT increase was public and we spoke out against it then as well”, continued the Minister of Labor.
He claims that the PSD was also “successful” in some positions in the coalition debates, as happened with “the food price ceiling, a measure that moderated inflation to some extent – unfortunately, not enough, because the VAT caused inflation to increase”.
The minister said that the high inflation in Romania “is the main reason why I came up with this solidarity package”.
“It is a measure to compensate, and only partially, the increase in inflation, for those categories of citizens who feel the increase in inflation the hardest, because inflation really eats away at the purchasing power especially of those who use all or almost all of the family budget for shopping”, added Minister Manole.
On Wednesday, in an interview for G4Media, the PSD leader, Sorin Grindeanu, announced that he will propose to his party colleagues “a slightly more extensive consultation” to determine whether they want to remain in government in the current configuration “or in a more limited form, without USR, for example, and if we go forward with Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan”.
Grindeanu criticizes the relationship with Bolojan and USR: “The protocol can remain very simple PSD-PNL-UDMR and with another prime minister given by PNL”
