PSD's Dragnea says there is no reason for the PM to resign. Dancila: I was offended by President's speech

National leader of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) Liviu Dragnea said on Friday that there is no reason for Prime Minister Viorica Dancila to resign.

There is no reason for her to resign; she still has our support,” Dragnea said.

Prime Minister Viorica Dancila also said on Friday evening she was offended by the President’s reaction and she will not resign. “I am definitely not resigning. I see no reason for me to do that, as long as i have the Coalition’s support. I can’t say I am affected by the president’s public redraw on government trust, but I think it can weaken Romania’s foreign position. Despite personal interests and frustrations I think we need to show responsibility in order to gain foreign investor’s trust”, Dancila said. She explained that we refused to meet the President today because she was called at Cotroceni Pallace only to be admonished by Iohannis.

President Klaus Iohannis made a statement earlier the same day demanding the resignation of PM Viorica Dancila, saying that she is unable to handle her role as prime minister and that she is turning the government into a vulnerability for Romania.

A few hours earlier, PM Dancila had informed the president that she would not attend the meeting scheduled for today at the Cotroceni Palace, where the president had intended to mediate the apparent conflict between the government’s representatives and the National Bank of Romania.

Iohannis recalled the oath PM Dancila made when she took office in January, and said that it doesn’t just mean that officials need to follow the Constitution ad-literam, but also that “the principle of loyal collaboration needs to be followed, that we follow the need for consultation in the interest of Romanian state between the president and the PM, that the decisions of the Constitutional Court are also followed.” Instead, Iohannis said, “Ms Dancila chose to carry out the orders she received from her party.”

President Iohannis also said that he takes issue with the fact that the government had publicly discussed a secret document, the memorandum about a possible move of Romania’s embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, despite the fact that the Constitution says that the president is the decision-maker in foreign policy.

Viorica Dancila and PSD leader Liviu Dragnea made an official visit to Israel on Thursday, where they met with several Israeli leaders including PM Benjamin Netanyahu. The visit was announced only a few hours before the two officials left for Israel, and Iohannis said that it was “unprecedented” for a prime minister to make an official visit without informing the president about the objectives of the visit, and he criticised the “secrecy” of Dancila and Dragnea in the matter.