Ilie Bolojan presented on Saturday at the PNL meeting the radical changes he proposes for the July Congress. The main novelty: reintroducing the honor resignation for the presidents of organizations that obtain the last 10 places in elections.
„We reintroduce in the statute the honor resignation of the presidents of organizations that obtained the last 10 places in the last local and parliamentary elections. This does not mean they will be immediately dismissed, but it means that if you have achieved poor results, it is a matter of honor. You submit your resignation.
It may be because of you, it may not be because of you. Those of you who know me, remember that in 2016 I was the general secretary of the PNL and because the PNL in 2016 did not achieve the results as expected, I submitted my resignation. Nothing happened,” explained Bolojan.
The new statute eliminates the internal alliance system and introduces performance as the main criterion. „Instead of being ‘friends with the party president,’ you must be ‘friends with the citizens in the communities you represent’,” says Bolojan.
### PNL reduces its leadership by half
Furthermore, PNL eliminates almost half of the leadership positions and introduces 19 regional representatives in the new executive structure to be voted on at the July Congress.
The PNL Statute Commission proposed on Saturday a complete restructuring of the party leadership, by establishing an Executive Bureau reduced to 27 members, approximately 50% less than the current structure.
The new leadership will consist of a president, 4 first vice-presidents, general secretary, and 19 regional representatives, of which 8 will also have vice-president duties.
The election of members will be completely restructured: the president and first vice-presidents will be directly elected at the Congress, the regional representatives will be appointed according to a regulation approved by the National Political Bureau, and the general secretary will be proposed by the elected president and subsequently validated.
### Financial measures
Bolojan also announced financial measures: all local elected officials will contribute to covering the party’s debts, with half of the amount remaining at the county branches and the other half going to the center. „We cannot tell Romanians that we are rebuilding the country if we do not prove that we are rebuilding the PNL,” he argued.
The party will reserve approximately 10% of leadership positions for personalities from outside the party, to attract „professionalism capital.”
Bolojan also announced that in 2027, a congress will be organized to decide whether the current leadership should be replaced before the 2028 elections.
„It is very possible that after a year, a year and a half, there will be a strong wear and tear in governance. That is why I propose that in 2027, when a hypothetical government mandate ends, with PNL representation, we have a congress that practically closes the county elections that will take place until then, so that you can decide on the leadership that has the capacity to take the party further.
If not, it must be replaced, because in 2028 we must create conditions for our party, if confirmed in national and local governance, to have the capacity to achieve a good score. We must allow, alongside us, to raise people who are the new generations that perform for the PNL,” concluded the liberal leader.