
The Tribunalul București suspended on Wednesday the provisional execution of decisions taken at the National Liberal Party’s (PNL) extraordinary congress on 21 June, a move the party’s leadership immediately vowed to challenge through all legal avenues. The ruling, issued just hours after the court admitted the claims of 18 PNL members against the new statutes and leadership elected in Bucharest, blocks the implementation of four congress resolutions and 17 subsequent decisions by the party’s Permanent Bureau until a final judgment is delivered.
PNL president Ilie Bolojan said the party would respect the provisional measure but would not abandon the decisions ratified by a majority of delegates. “We will respect the temporary suspension, but we will defend the decision of our members regarding who we are and whom we represent,” Bolojan wrote on Facebook. He accused a “small group” of attempting to overturn the congress vote through the courts after failing to sway the membership democratically. “Those who wage legal battles against the will of their own colleagues, expressed by the majority vote, have gained nothing—not even the respect of the thousands of PNL members across the country,” he said.
Vice-president Alexandru Muraru told Digi24 the ruling was part of an “unprecedented assault” on the party, orchestrated by “the system” to subordinate PNL to external interests. “The sovereignty belongs to the congress,” Muraru argued, noting that more than 2,500 delegates had legitimately elected the new leadership. He warned that attempts to replace majority decisions with court rulings would undermine internal democracy. “Respect for democracy means respect for the majority,” Muraru said. “Those who lose a vote have the right to contest through legal channels, but they cannot pretend the majority ceases to exist.”
The court’s decision suspends the re-election of Bolojan as PNL president, the ratification of the updated party statutes, and 13 subsequent decisions by the Permanent Bureau, including two political resolutions: one reaffirming the party’s refusal to enter a coalition with the Social Democrats (PSD) and another calling for the resignation of dissenting leaders under threat of expulsion. The judges did not rule on the merits of the case but ordered a temporary halt to these measures until the underlying dispute is resolved.
PNL’s first vice-president Dan Motreanu dismissed the ruling as an attempt to “rewrite democracy,” arguing that 1,800 delegates had voted freely and transparently. “The direction of a party in a democracy is set by the vote of its members, not by the desire of a minority to annul the majority’s will,” Motreanu said. “We will use every legal means to defend the vote of those 1,800 liberals and the mandate they gave: no PSD.”
In a joint statement, the party leadership stressed that the tribunal had not ruled in favour of the plaintiffs on the merits, only granting a provisional suspension. “The procedure followed by PNL for the extraordinary congress was correct and complied with the statutes,” the statement read. “We cannot fail to notice that last year the party held a National Council and a congress, adopted a statute and elected a leadership without incident—yet this time the decisions were contested and suspended.” The party said it would pursue appeals until a definitive ruling is issued, insisting that the legitimacy derived from the congress vote remains unassailable.
Deputy Alina Gorghiu, a prominent figure in the anti-Bolojan faction, told HotNews the decision was “executory by law” and must be implemented immediately. “Nobody is happy with this court outcome,” she said, adding that she would remain in the party for the long term. The ruling marks the second legal setback in recent days for Bolojan’s camp, following an earlier decision by the Ilfov Tribunal that also sided with the dissenting group.
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