PSD forces the departure of Bolojan and USR from the Government. “You can't deal with them anymore. Bolojan is the same as USR”. The operation is due to start from Sunday

Sorin Grindeanu called an extended meeting of the PSD leadership for Sunday. The social democratic leaders will decide whether or not to vote on the budget in Parliament. However, members of the management say that the meeting will only be a formality, in the idea that the decision to vote on the budget has already been made, but that the consultation will follow in which they will decide whether they will continue to support the prime minister. However, the plan by which the PSD would overthrow the Government remains unclear, even if there are multiple options.

A day before the meeting, one of the PSD leaders says that the atmosphere in the party is good, but not the situation in the country. “Everyone is on relaxation, on welfare. I'm ironic,” says another member of the PSD leadership.

PSD parliamentarians are ready to submit amendments to the draft budget. They will discuss them in Sunday's meeting. They basically want to insert into the project the requirements that were not respected – such as the allocation of funds for the solidarity package and that they will thus force Bolojan's hand.

The PSD leaders that Hotnews spoke to say that they are not counting on AUR votes to pass these changes because, on the one hand, no parliamentarian will vote against amendments that help people. On the other hand, “if AUR votes for our amendments, what will I say to them? Don't vote?”, says one of the PSD leaders.

However, one of the PNL ministers told Hotnews that there is no more room for concessions. “We negotiated, we discussed, we conceded what had to be conceded, they agreed – that's about it,” he said.

“The decision to vote the budget is as if taken”

The social democrats with whom HotNews spoke say that on Sunday they will decide to vote on the budget, that is why some categorize the meeting as a simulation.

“The decision to vote on the budget has been made. Afterwards, I understand that we will meet again like this, in a National Political Council, in the very near future, to take note of what the ordinary member wants who has been consulted and re-consulted countless times”.

“We cannot leave the country without a budget,” argues another leader.

The landing of Bolojan after the Budget is being prepared. But it is not clear how

However, they remind that after this meeting another National Political Council will be held for the internal referendum through which the party members will decide if they continue to support Ilie Bolojan as prime minister.

“If there is a vote, we no longer support the Bolojan Government. And after that, we go to negotiations. If we dismiss him by motion, he can remain in office for 45 days. He can remain in office until a new Government is formed without problems. We are discussing with the president and the other parties. Another construction is being made with another prime minister,” says one of the party leaders.

In the public space, several scenarios were circulated for the plan with which the PSD would like to make Ilie Bolojan leave – by withdrawing the social-democratic ministers from the cabinet, by the intervention of the president Nicușor Dan or by a motion of censure against the Government of which they are a part.

The last option would practically lead to a situation similar to the one in 2017, when Liviu Dragnea dismissed the Grindeanu Government by motion.

“There are so many methods, but at the same time, so many unknowns”

One of the social democratic leaders with whom HotNews spoke says that the methods or plan by which the Government can be overthrown have not been communicated to them.

“My feeling is that it's a plan already made. The next stage has not been revealed to us.”

Asked by HotNews about the scenarios for the breakup of the current government, a PSD leader says that, from his point of view, whoever suggests that he knows what the plan is, “has no idea”:

“There are so many methods, but at the same time, so many unknowns, and so many variables, that, who can say now “what is the plan”, it seems to me that he has no idea what the plan is. There are very, very, very many unknowns. Who? When? How? Who sneezes? Who blinks? Who goes home? Why? When? It seems to me to be an extremely complicated period.”

PSD leader, about Ilie Bolojan: “A man with such a broad spectrum and, despite all that, so narrow-minded”

When asked which is the biggest problem, Prime Minister Bolojan or the association with USR, the social democrats with whom HotNews spoke say that the main dissatisfaction is Ilie Bolojan because “one speaks at the table, another happens”.

“People come to us at the headquarters now and tell us that it's not normal. They don't talk to people anymore, the purchasing power has decreased, that is, we just cut. We cut and put nothing back. No economic recovery, nothing, nothing”, explains one of the heads of the PSD.

Another says he has never “taken such hate” from citizens. The main reason being the measures adopted by the Government that the mayors must implement.

“It's not ok. If a deputy who was born a deputy came and just raised his hand, as the group leader told him, he did nothing else, I could understand. But when you were mayor for three terms, you were also president of the County Council, you were also secretary general of the Government… You rarely find such a person, with all due respect, in a positive sense, to have such a broad spectrum and, with all that, to be so narrow in mind. There is no such thing.”

Dialogues in the coalition are “deaf”, in PSD's opinion

One of the PSD leaders says that the dialogues in the coalition are “deaf”, even though in the meetings every leader present expresses his opinion about the ideas presented by Bolojan. In discussions, they reach a middle way, a compromise solution.

“Everyone leaves there peacefully and, the next day, the prime minister comes and says “yes, I've decided, I'll do as I am””.

There are social democrats who say they are nervous about Ilie Bolojan, even if they agree with some of the prime minister's measures. I say that he would have done the same if he had occupied the chair at Victoria Palace, but he would have chosen to refine some decisions.

I also say that he would have consulted more with the parties involved before making a decision, especially with the mayors.

There are also problems with the association with USR

Sources from the party say that “it is no longer possible with them”, neither with Bolojan, nor with USR, and that the prime minister “is the same with USR. And if Sorin Grindeanu came to say that we must continue with the current prime minister, I don't think he would convince anyone”.

Even Sorin Grindeanu said this publicly, when he accused Ilie Bolojan of being, in fact, the prime minister of USR, not of all the parties in the coalition.

And not only Grindeanu was extremely vocal about Prime Minister Bolojan, but also one of the most influential leaders in the party at the moment: the mayor of Craiova, Olguța Vasilescu. And the former president of the PSD and the prime minister before Bolojan, Marcel Ciolacu, violently attacked the head of the government in recent weeks.

Some leaders say that, from the start, the association with USR is harmful in view of the fact that the party now led by Dominic Fritz was the one that attacked PSD from the beginning, practically from its appearance.

“The problem with USR is somehow natural. Over time, people have painted us in one way and another, and then maybe the reaction is a natural one. But the problem with USR can be easily cut.”

Others say that the USR ministers in the Bolojan cabinet have done nothing but violate their principles, that the USR sits back and criticizes, but they are not good managers, because they are not “understanding and malleable”.

“Yes, indeed, they have schools, they are ok, but you also have to have empathy towards people, towards colleagues. It seems to me that they are a bit mean and misunderstanding. They say no penalties in public positions, but they also have them. They say no special pensions, but the lady proposed for the People's Advocate has a special pension. Is this normal?”, says one of the social democratic leaders.

PSD leaders also remind the fact that a parliamentary majority can be formed without USR, that USR appoints people as PSD used to do. “Look at our ministers. Our ministers have no problem.”

But the social-democratic leader with whom Hotnews spoke did not mention the accusations of plagiarism brought against the Minister of Justice, Radu Marinescu, nor the problems in the CV of the Minister of Transport, Ciprian Şerban.

What pesedists actually want

The social democrats with whom Hotnews spoke reject the opposition's version. They want to stay in power in a future givern built on a majority PSD-PNL-USR-minorities. “But who will want to be prime minister from the PNL?”, asked a PSD leader. Because until next year's election, the post of head of the Government belongs to the liberals.

On the other hand, some of the liberals with whom Hotnews spoke these days stated that if Bolojan will no longer be prime minister, the PNL should remain in government without him. “Let him not imagine that we will leave the government, he will stay with the party and that's it,” said one of the PNL leaders from the camp that opposes the prime minister. Moreover, it is well known that the party is divided between those who support Bolojan and those who publicly oppose him, grouped around the camp of Herbert Thuma, president CJ Ilfov.

And Cotroceniul is aware of the PSD plans. Voices from the Administration claim for Hotnews, however, that the president will try to stop Bolojan's landing.