Crin Antonescu: “Ilie Bolojan is a USR-ist willingly and with pleasure”. What does it say about the future of the coalition?
The former president of the PNL Crin Antonescu declared, on Sunday evening, on Antena 3, that this governing coalition does not work, but estimated that the current government will remain in office, under the leadership of Ilie Bolojan, who he stated is a USR-ist not because he was “captured”, but “is willing and with pleasure”.
“I think that this coalition is not working. And before discussing who is to blame or not to blame, it is the finding of the fact that it is not working. We hear about this every day. It even seems that the main components of the government are in a kind of premature or early electoral campaign, somehow with a greater concern for this than for the act of government itself,” said Crin Antonescu, quoted by News.ro.
On the other hand, Antonescu estimated that the current cabinet will last, under the leadership of the current prime minister.
Invited to comment on the claims that Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan was “captured” by the USR, the former president of the PNL replied: “Things are not so dramatic, Mr. Bolojan was not a victim, he was not captured. If Mr. Bolojan is a USR-ist at heart, (…) it is not because he was captured, it is, so to speak, willingly and with pleasure.”
USR has positions of strength
He believes that “those from the PSD should perhaps think a little retrospectively why they accepted the presence of the USR in a government where arithmetically it was not absolutely necessary”.
“And going forward, I think that the Government will stay, yes, with USR, and with Bolojan, and with PSD, because I have the impression, some jokes say, that they have started to like it, to agree with them. Mr. Bolojan is consolidating his status as a fighter, the main tenor in the fight against the PSD, Mr. Nicusor showing some hesitation in front of his anti-PSD supporters”, said Crin Antonescu.
The former liberal leader added that a government in which both PSD and USR are present cannot be a functional one.
“The USR has really strong positions in the Government, especially in this context. I would say that it is the party with the most important positions and I don't think that the PSD has the willingness at this moment to end this collaboration. Even though, I said it from the beginning and, unfortunately, the developments are right, a government with both USR and PSD cannot work. A government with USR and PNL did not work, but one with USR and PSD really cannot you see”, said Antonescu.
