Ponta: New Cabinet to be revealed by March 8. USL goes forward, if possible

Prime-minister Victor Ponta specified on Monday that in the event of a PNL withdrawal from the Government, the deadline for new appointments is March 8, when Gabriel Oprea’s mandate at the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs expires.

“His mandate ends on March 8 so we must have a new Government by that date”, Ponta explained.

In order to avoid a PNL withdrawal, Ponta made guarantees that nobody in USD (the coalition formed between PSD, PC and UNPR and the reason for PNL’s dissatisfaction) will demand Crin Antonescu to be revoked from the position of Senate president.

“I only want to say a single thing which I will propose once more today: we will do everything in our power within USD to achieve our two fundamental objectives we set out three years ago, namely to change a political regime, the Traian Basescu regime, with a democratic system, European and modern, and to provide the best government for the country. I hope and I wish that our liberal colleagues will not sacrificed this important project for a personal project of mister Antonescu. His personal project should fall under the great national project called USL”, Ponta explained.

Last week, the PNL president warned that USL cabinet might soon disappear, after PSD became part of a new political coalition, USD (PSD, PC and UNPR). The new coalition made a move to investigate the Financial Surveillance Authority, a regulatory institution that is currently in the middle of a scandal.

“We’re noticing a new alliance has been formed to gradually replace the Social-Liberal union, as Ponta is building a government without the Liberals,” Antonescu said. “Monday evening, or Tuesday, Romania will have a government backed either by the current ruling coalition or by another alliance, which would lack legitimacy. We would immediately ask for that government’s resignation on those grounds.”

Social-democratic sources said that if PNL goes ahead with their plan to split from USL permanently, USD will send a new Government project into Parliament by March 4.

“PSD’s permanent bureau established to take the new Government to the Parliament by March 4, so that on March 8 it can already be installed”, the sources commented for Mediafax.