Political deadlock deepens in Bucharest as PNL rejects PSD's prime minister candidate

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2 months · 11 summary articles
The political deadlock in Bucharest deepened Friday evening after President Nicușor Dan announced that consultations at Cotroceni Palace had failed to break the impasse over forming a new government, with the National Liberal Party (PNL) rejecting outright the Social Democratic Party’s (PSD) preferred candidate for prime minister.
Ilie Bolojan, PNL’s president, told reporters late Friday that his party had not offered PSD leader Sorin Grindeanu a “blank cheque” to lead a minority government, as alleged by Dan. “We have been burned before,” Bolojan said, insisting PNL had instead proposed a political agreement that would allow for a government to be formed. He accused PSD of seeking power and resources without accepting governance responsibilities, a claim echoed in a PNL press release .
Siegfried Mureșan, the PNL-USR-UDMR alliance’s nominee for prime minister, went further, stating that PNL “will not support—and has never supported—Sorin Grindeanu as prime minister with total autonomy and no concrete commitments on governance objectives,” as PSD had demanded .
Dan, who had convened the leaders of PSD, PNL, USR, and UDMR at Cotroceni on Friday evening, said the meeting ended with Romania “back to the political blockade that we thought we had overcome on Tuesday.” He had earlier set a Tuesday deadline for installing a new government .
Grindeanu responded by declaring that PSD would make no further proposals, accusing PNL, USR, and UDMR of prolonging the crisis to retain their positions. “We are not afraid of the Romanian people’s vote,” he wrote on Facebook, adding that Bolojan should “learn English” ahead of impending credit rating agency reviews .
PNL’s deputy leader, Alexandru Muraru, accused Dan of protecting PSD and demanded a public apology, while PSD’s Claudiu Manda alleged Bolojan had misled both the president and the public by changing conditions each time PSD honored its commitments .
UDMR’s Lorand Turos said it was natural for the right-wing alliance to propose Mureșan as an alternative to PSD’s candidate, but stressed that further talks were needed to find a solution .
With PSD ruling out further concessions and PNL insisting on structured negotiations, the path to a new government remains blocked as Romania faces growing pressure from international observers and financial markets.
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