Nicușor Dan names the political equation that he will block. “I'll make sure it doesn't happen”

President Nicușor Dan spoke on Tuesday, in Croatia, on the day PSD and AUR submitted the no-confidence motion against the Bolojan government, about keeping Romania's pro-Western direction, in the assumption that he will have to appoint a new prime minister, and he named the “thing” he will ensure will not happen.

In the short press conference held in Dubrovnik, on the sidelines of the Three Seas Initiative Summit, the head of state was asked how he will ensure that Romania will not be diverted from the European trajectory.

“We have the declaration of the parties, none of the pro-European parties say they want to form a government with anti-Western forces, AUR”, answered Nicușor Dan.

“Then, in that scenario, in which I will have to appoint a prime minister, I will make sure that this does not happen”, the president said.

He was also asked about the scenario of early elections, circulated in the last days.

“We keep moving forward in the scenarios, but we had the list from the beginning. This scenario is extremely, extremely unlikely. None of the similar crises ended with early elections. We don't have to take this scenario too much into account,” said the head of state.

Asked, at the same time, how likely it is that PSD and AUR will form a government together, Nicușor Dan stated: “Extremely improbable, as the president of PSD has declared. There are people who are in the position of party leaders.”

“Two things happened today, a motion was submitted, and 9 billion euros were voted in Parliament for SAFE. We must welcome the pro-European direction, the responsibility of those who voted for such an important project for Romania. I exercised the role of mediator the day before yesterday, today's vote is also due to this,” the president said.

The leader of AUR, George Simion, announced on Tuesday that his party, together with the PSD and other representatives of the opposition, collected the necessary signatures to initiate the procedure to dismiss the government led by Ilie Bolojan.

George Simion announced, at a press conference held at the Parliament, that 253 signatures had been collected, a higher number than the one announced on public radio shortly before. It had initially announced a number of 251 signatures.

The President of AUR specified that his party does not have an alliance or coalition with the PSD, but admitted that the two parties have common points, but also things that separate them. He emphasized that the AUR signed a parliamentary procedure, together with other parties of “different colors”.

Asked if the AUR will form a government with the PSD, if the Bolojan Government fails in the Parliament vote, Simion said that he has not publicly committed to this step. “I would be taking a risk if I said that I would form a coalition with someone or something else,” the AUR chief added.

About half an hour after George Simion came out to make the announcement regarding the submission of the motion of censure, PSD sent a press release, without any representative of the party coming out to make statements, in Parliament, as the AUR leader did.

The PSD considers that the submission and adoption of a motion of censure against a prime minister “lacking legitimacy and without parliamentary support” is a democratic process, regulated at the constitutional level, and announced that it managed to secure the support of a parliamentary majority for the motion's vote.

PSD also claimed, in its press release, that Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan's “inability” to respect his governing partners and to be “receptive” to the problems and concerns of Romanians significantly affected the governing act and produced numerous institutional blockages.

“Because of the Prime Minister's hubris and political stubbornness, Romania fell into recession, consumption collapsed, production fell, and inflation cut into citizens' purchasing power. It would have been irresponsible of the PSD not to intervene to stop this economic and social decline! Beyond the demagogic speech, Prime Minister Bolojan failed to implement any genuine reform in the 10 months he led the Government of Romania. The insinuation that has reformed Romania through revenue cuts, through tax increases, through the impoverishment of the population and through the fiscal suffocation of Romanian SMEs and entrepreneurs, denotes a rudimentary understanding of economic mechanisms and a total disconnection from the realities in Romania”, stated PSD.

The social democrats added that the withdrawal of political support for Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan and his dismissal through the democratic mechanism of the motion of censure pave the way for the formation of a functional government, to be led by a prime minister capable of collaboration.

The leadership of the Parliament decided that the censure motion will be read on Wednesday at 12:00 and will be voted on in secret, with ballots, on Tuesday, May 5, at 11:00.