Former PSD leader about the motion filed against Bolojan: What will happen from next Wednesday? / The same coalition only without Bolojan would be a mistake
Victor Ponta has stated several times that PSD and AUR should collaborate, because they are the two parties that obtained the most votes in the parliamentary elections. Now, he says he was right, but that the two parties should also have explained what will happen after the motion passes, which he believes has a pretty good chance of bringing down the Government.
The former Prime Minister and president of the PSD, Victor Ponta, said on Wednesday morning at the Parliament that the censure motion submitted on Tuesday by PSD and AUR has a “fairly high” chance of passing.
“I have gone through a lot of motions, many have produced surprises, but it will probably pass. But, what I want the most, so, being a bit outside of the strict party interests, I would like to know what happens after the motion”, added Ponta.
AUR and PSD “proved him right”
He says the motion “is a moment of emotion” and that it will pass, that “Wednesday will come”:
“What has been happening since Wednesday? Who is in charge of the country? Who is taking what economic measures? I did not vote for this government and I will definitely vote for the censure motion because I didn't think it would work in the current formula. It's a shame, I was right. But I also say that for once no one says very clearly what will happen next. If the same coalition remains only without Mr. Bolojan, frankly, I think it's a mistake.”
The former PSD president recalled the fact that he stated several times that AUR and PSD “need to talk”. He told about how he was “scolded” by both PSD and AUR, but that in the end “they gave him the right”.
“Now, I say that the main parties voted by Romanians and that have a number of parliamentarians (n. ed. a sufficient number of parliamentarians to form a majority) should at least try to form a majority”, adds Victor Ponta.
Asked about how until now the PSD has categorized AUR as an extremist party, and the party led by George Simion conveyed that the social democrats are corrupt and both ruled out collaboration, until the joint announcement of the censure motion, Ponta said that the experience taught him not to use “big words”.
“My experience has taught me not to use big words. I remember when Mr. President Băsescu, a serious man, said 10 times that he would not make me prime minister. Since then I have learned not to throw words in politics and life in general. But once again, immediately, I am convinced that beyond the motion, PSD and AUR must say “sir, if the motion passes, we will do the next thing”.
He said that the two parties cannot say that they are submitting the motion just because “they don't like Bolojan”.
“I am very interested in what happens on Wednesday, because the economic situation is very bad, because what Mr. Bolojan said, regarding PNRR, SAFE, is true, we cannot afford to lose certain things. And because I believe that this Government could not continue, but you always have to prepare what you put in place. You cannot tear down without saying what you put in place”, said the former PSD prime minister.
“We run between Brussels and Washington like a puppy between two bowls of milk”
Asked what effect the success of the no-confidence motion will have on the B9 Summit that will take place on March 13 at the Cotroceni Palace, Ponta said that in fact, the problem is “what we say at the B9 Summit”, not political instability.
“I, for example, follow President Nicușor Dan to all the European summits and I would give anything to find out what's in that notebook he walks around with, because it seems to me that every time he comes back without anything of Romania. The same with the B9 summit. It is very important, if beyond the fact that we host it. But what are we proposing? What role does Romania play?”, declared Victor Ponta.
Then, he said that externally, Romania “fled from Brussels to Washington, like a puppy running between two bowls of milk. No one took us very seriously. “Foreign policy, which is sublime, but is completely lacking,” added the former prime minister.
AUR and PSD team up to overthrow the Bolojan government
The motion, signed by 254 parliamentarians, was submitted on Tuesday, after it was announced in a joint press conference by Marian Neacșu and Petrișor Peiu.
Everything, in the context in which the social democrats said even in Cotroceni, during the talks with the president last week, that the censure motion is the “last option” taken into account”.
For the fall of the Government, a majority of 233 votes is needed in the Parliament, out of the total of 463 MPs.
Also on Tuesday, the reunited permanent offices of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies decided the schedule for the debate and voting on the censure motion.
Thus, on Wednesday, from 12:30 p.m., the censure motion will be read in the common plenary, and next week on Tuesday, May 5, it will be voted on.
