President Nicușor Dan meets on Tuesday at 3:00 PM at Cotroceni Palace with the leaders of the governing coalition. The discussion takes place in a tense moment, marked by PSD’s threats regarding the budget vote and the increasingly harsh exchanges between the parties in power.
The meeting comes just a day after the coalition leaders announced that they had reached an agreement on disputed issues such as administrative reform and changes regarding local taxes and fees. However, the political climate remains fragile, and the support for the state budget is being questioned.
PSD conditions the budget vote
PSD leader Sorin Grindeanu warned on Monday evening that the social democrats will not vote on the budget if the "social package" proposed by the party is not included and if local investments are not maintained at least at last year's level.
He said he hopes these provisions will be included in the budget law. "If they are not, the PSD will not vote on the budget," Grindeanu stated, when asked what the party will do if its demands are not accepted.
Tension is also heightened by the position of the Minister of Labor, Florin Manole, who announced that he will resign if discussions with the trade unions on the Salary Law do not start by April. In the same context of political pressure, former PSD leader Marcel Ciolacu even mentioned the possibility of early elections last week.
The discussions could also include the topic of appointing the heads of the intelligence services, a sensitive issue that concerns the coalition parties.
The meeting at Cotroceni takes place just a few days before the president leaves for Washington, where he will participate as an observer in the inaugural meeting of the Peace Council, initiated by US President Donald Trump.
"The coalition functions better than perceived"
Last week, Nicușor Dan rejected the idea that the current coalition is on the verge of a major crisis. He acknowledged mutual attacks and negative public perception but argued that, in reality, things are functioning better than they appear from the outside.
"Of course, in life, I would like many things to be different than they are, but, overall, beyond the continuous attacks between parties and the perception, I emphasize, the perception that this coalition is in great distress, I believe that in reality, in the way they function, in the way they come to have the same opinion on normative acts they assume, this coalition functions better than perceived," the president stated.