The Vice President of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the mayor of Galați, Ionuț Pucheanu, states that the social democrats are still willing to govern alongside the National Liberal Party (PNL), but he believes that the current political crisis cannot be overcome without resuming negotiations and without changing the way Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan leads the Executive.
In an interview given on Sunday to the show „În fața ta” on Digi, Pucheanu argued that the solution is for all political actors to return to the negotiating table and to give up public confrontations.
"Politics is the art of compromise. Important political actors should return to the negotiating table and find a solution for this Romania to be governed in the true sense of the word. If the more or less bellicose statements do not cease, it is hard to believe that we will reach a common ground in the near future," stated the leader of the PSD.
He warned that without a political agreement, Romania risks remaining for a long period with a dismissed government, unable to function at full capacity.
"We're not bothered by the marriage, but we would have wanted the bride changed"
When asked if the PSD made a mistake when it voted for the motion of no confidence against the Bolojan Government, of which it was a part, Pucheanu responded negatively.
He compared the governing coalition to a marriage and said that the issue for the PSD is not the collaboration with the liberals, but the Prime Minister himself. "We were not bothered, and we are not bothered by the idea of marriage, but we would have wanted the bride changed, all for the sake of the children," said Pucheanu.
The social-democratic leader then made it clear that the statement refers to Ilie Bolojan and not to the PNL.
"We have no problem with the PNL. We had and still have an issue with the way Mr. Bolojan understands to implement what was agreed upon when the governance agreement was signed," he explained.
Criticism of the Prime Minister's measures
Pucheanu argued that the Prime Minister is implementing the agreed measures at too fast a pace and used a new comparison to illustrate his criticism.
"It's like when you go to the doctor, he prescribes you an antibiotic for 14 days, and Mr. Bolojan says: if we have to take it for 14 days anyway, we might as well take it all at once," stated the PSD leader, suggesting that the pace of reforms promoted by the Prime Minister is excessive.
At the same time, he insisted that the PSD has not closed the door to a new collaboration with the PNL and that he believes that the resumption of negotiations is the only way out of the current political deadlock.