PNL likens PSD to weather forecast

PNL (National Liberal Party) and PD (Democrat Party) are questioning the honesty of the ruling party leaders when they say they gave up the early elections idea, as the PSD (Social Democrat Party) secretary general Cozmin Gusa said on Monday. Both the Liberals and the Democrats feel this is just one of PSD’s strategies to push this issue aside for the moment only to bring it up again some time in the future. UDMR (Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania) is cautious, too, as leader Marko Bela yesterday hesitated in forecasting whether PSD’s position would remain as announced on Monday or would change again.
“PSD’s political attitude is brimming with aspects that make it look increasingly like weather forecast bulletins. I am not convinced PSD has indeed abandoned the idea of organising early elections. I think this is just a strategy to divert the public’s attention to populist issues such as the anti-corruption fight and improving the population’s living standards,” PNL’s spokesperson Eugen Nicolaescu told Ziarul Financiar yesterday.
The Liberal leader added that forever postponing the “political judgement” of the local PSD barons by the ruling party leadership is connected with the strategy to organise early elections, because “PSD needs their money.”
According to PNL’s spokesman, the position PSD went public with on Monday, showing that early elections were not a priority in the political strategy, is merely part of the political game of the ruling party.
“This game of words and actions has become PSD’s speciality,” Nicolaescu said.
The Liberals have not changed their mind about early elections and still feel Romania has other priorities, the most important of which is the European integration.
PD does not buy into PSD’s alleged dropping of the early elections idea either.
“The ruling party has not given up the early elections idea, it just disguised it. This is actually a sheep in wolf’s clothing. President Ion Iliescu’s message against early elections was firm and this is why the ruling party is trying to promote the idea of diverting attention from this issue,” PD deputy leader Emil Boc told Ziarul Financiar.
The Democrat leader feels the ruling party will bring the early elections issue up again after the Constitution modification is enacted, arguing another Parliament needs to be elected. Subsequently, it would have one more reason to speed up the procedures to enact the revision of the Fundamental Law.
The Democrats have constantly voiced their opposition against early elections, and so have the Liberals.
UDMR, PSD’s biggest supporter in Parliament would rather not judge the positions of the ruling party.
“If I am to analyse the statements on early elections made over the past few months I see there have been a lot of contradictory statements. That is why I could not say for sure whether PSD would change its mind about early elections again,” UDMR leader Marko Bela told Ziarul Financiar. The Alliance was against early elections during debates on this issue.