USR moves forward with Bolojan / Fritz: “We will discuss how to coordinate our steps, USR and PNL”

The president of USR, Dominic Fritz, announced on Tuesday evening, at the end of a party meeting after the Bolojan Government fell following the censure motion of PSD and AUR, that USR will continue to support Ilie Bolojan, and will have a discussion with the PNL leader “on how we can coordinate our steps in this crisis”.

USR voted again, on Tuesday, the resolution that excludes a government majority with PSD, announced Dominic Fritz. “Today we confirmed the decision we already made in the Political Committee: we will no longer be able to restore a governmental majority with the PSD. This decision is valid, and today it is firm,” said the USR leader.

According to him, the mandate with which USR will go to the consultations in Cotroceni with President Nicușor Dan is that “we will not be able to return to the negotiation table with PSD. And two: we will tell him that we will coordinate very closely with PNL to evaluate future options”.

“Our support is not for a natural person, it is for a direction of reforms for Romania. And Ilie Bolojan is an ally in this direction for which USR has been fighting for 10 years. And this is the reason why we want to go into this crisis coordinated with the National Liberal Party led by Ilie Bolojan and make decisions together”, explained Dominic Fritz.

Dominic Fritz's statements at the end of the USR meeting:

• “The motion of chaos, of PSD and AUR, in which the two parties united to stop the reforms started by the USR ministers and the Bolojan Government, is a motion with a clear result, which really changes the political reality in Romania, a reality that many citizens look at with anger, with revolt”.
• “We, as USR, find today that there is no longer a pro-European majority in Parliament, there is no longer a majority of responsibility and maturity as we negotiated 10 months ago. It was not easy for us then to enter a government with PSD, which increased the deficit, which in turn increased inflation… But we did it then out of responsibility and on the basis of very clear principles. These principles have not changed today. And that is why we make a firm commitment today to our voters, to the citizens, that we will continue to fight for these principles, regardless of what happens”.
• “Today I confirmed the decision we have already made in the Political Committee: if the PSD – as I said then – votes for such a motion together with the AUR, then we will no longer be able to restore a government majority with the PSD. This decision is valid, and today it is firm, and not because we are arrogant, but because we do not believe that it is possible to really govern with a partner who keeps a reserve majority in his pocket, a fixed majority with this extremist party against to whom we formed this pro-European government”.
• “This clearly means that USR ministers will go to work until the day we have a new government.”
• “And for the next steps: the Political Committee decided to mandate me, as president of the USR, to invite the president of the PNL, Ilie Bolojan, to a discussion about how we can coordinate the steps in this crisis, between the PNL and the USR.”
• “It is obvious that reformist forces are needed, it is obvious that moral clarity is needed in this crisis, and USR, with great responsibility towards the voters, will deliver this clarity, and will also deliver this loyalty to the reformist project in Romania.”
• “My mandate, voted today, is to tell President Nicușor Dan (at the consultations in Cotroceni) that we will not be able to return to the negotiation table with the PSD. And two: we will tell him that we will coordinate – this, of course, if the PNL accepts our invitation – that we will coordinate very closely with the PNL to evaluate future options.”
• “Ilie Bolojan is the president of the PNL, and it is good that it is so, and my mandate is to negotiate with him the next steps. Our support is not for a natural person, it is for a direction of reforms for Romania. And today we see that Ilie Bolojan, including through the speech he gave in Parliament, is an ally in this direction for which USR has been fighting for 10 years. And we are glad that there is a prime minister who shares with us a correct vision for the modernization of Romania. And this is the reason why we want to go into this crisis coordinated with the National Liberal Party led by Ilie Bolojan and make decisions together”.
• “I would be lying to you if I told you that we have a magical solution in our pocket, which we have been thinking about all along and everyone knew what the plan was. That is precisely why we are going into these consultations with President Nicușor Dan with a clear, assumed line, which we announced ahead of time and it is not a surprise to anyone. A line which, as we wish, will be determined together with the PNL. Precisely because including the arithmetic parliamentarian tells us that PNL and USR together have more MPs than PSD. But, certainly, those who today formed a new majority and brought down the Government must answer us how they want to rule this country”.
• “All the scenarios that are on the table today seem to be very unlikely, including a minority government today seems unlikely. At the same time, from the USR side, we will explore all the options by which we can ensure that the country will not take a step back. A motion was passed today, but we do not allow Romania to return to the past.”

Dominic Fritz had previously announced that the USR voted again on Tuesday, after the fall of the Bolojan Government, the resolution that excludes a governmental majority with the PSD. According to Fritz, the decision was made by the USR Political Committee, which brings together 160 party leaders.

“The Political Committee of the USR maintains its previous decision not to form a government majority with the PSD. The USR continues the reformist political direction. The USR will propose to the National Liberal Party a political agreement for a coordinated approach regarding the next steps. It mandates the president Dominic Fritz to hold discussions in this regard with the president of the PNL, Ilie Bolojan,” the USR leader wrote on Facebook.

And the leadership of the PNL met on Tuesday evening, from 17:00, in a meeting at the Parliament Palace. PNL leaders from the territory also participate in the meeting.

The liberals decide what they will do after the dismissal of the Bolojan Government, in the context in which, immediately after the vote, leaders of the formation began to appear who insist on remaining in government, while others rule out a new formula in power alongside the PSD.