Iohannis, campaign start at PNL : "I assume as a national objective this vision of functional Romania, of normal Romania"
President Klaus Iohannis presented, on Thursday, at the National Liberal Party's National Council meeting, the vision for Romania and gave assurances that he will not appoint a government that does not take responsibility for its desiderata and that he will build a new majority.
"Dear Liberals, dear Romanians, I urge you to rebuild Romania! The vote I hope you will give me in the presidential elections is a vote for this vision that we have together for our country. (...) This vote will be respected. I will not appoint a government that does not firmly assume these desiderata. (...) I assure you that I will build a new majority, following the vote given by the people in the parliamentary elections, whether they be on time or anticipated, a majority that will have in the foreground all these priorities related to the normalization of Romania, a majority that will be pro-European and will support the fight against corruption," said the president.
He stressed that "the PSD has proven incapable of doing all these things and has to leave."
"I assume as a national objective this vision of functional Romania, of normal Romania," the president pointed out.
In scathing criticism of the Social Democratic government, President Klaus Iohannis said on Thursday that the "disaster" inflicted on the Romanian state and citizens by the ruling party's failing policy is mirrored by the Caracal crime case.
"We meet again at a critical moment for Romania, but we must call things by their name, for the entire chain of serious errors made in the terrible Caracal tragedy to never repeat again. It is paramount that we understand why we got here, but more importantly - what we have to do to rebuild the normal Romania we all want. The Caracal case, with all its deep implications, reveals the dire disaster inflicted on the state and its citizens by the failing policy of the party at rule. The PSD has betrayed the people's vote, this was never more obvious than now: economic failure, legislative failure, failure to protect the citizens, laws for criminals and money for the clientele, contempt for the people and a continuous assault on the Romanian state. This is the tally of the PSD governments in all these years," Iohannis told the meeting of the National Liberal Party's National Council.
According to him, the business environment in Romania should be released from the "guillotine of unpredictability of the OUG (emergency ordinance) 114-type."
"As long as we do not encourage private initiative and investments we cannot really talk about the long-term prosperity of Romanians. We must stop treating private companies as enemies of the country, as PSD [Social Democratic Party, major at rule] and ALDE [Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, minor at rule] are doing, and public finance and economic policies will have to be rectified, otherwise the next generations will feel the burden of an increasingly painful bill, which the PSD - ALDE government has knowingly rolled from year to year," said Iohannis, who participates in the National Liberal Party's National Council.
President Klaus Iohannis said on Thursday that rebuilding the state is an urgency, emphasizing that a spot-on audit of each institution is needed and that the obsolete, useless structures should be dismantled.
"Rebuilding the Romanian state is an urgency! The public system can no longer be treated as a refuge for incompetents and political clientele. We have a lot of professionals in the state system and they are the ones who must be promoted so that we have an elite public corps to cover the major public services - education, health, the citizens' protection and security. The civil service must regain its dignity. Correctness is the fundamental principle of a functional Romania. In a broad sense, it means responsibly fulfilling one's duties, it means that those heading public institutions get there on their merits, not for political obedience, it means putting the general interest above any other interest. We must call things by their name: beyond values and principles, a spot-on auditing of each institution of the Romanian state is needed. There is no reason to further keep in place the obsolete structures, which are of no use anymore. There is no reason for those found to not do their job to further stay in the public system. It's as easy as that!," the head of state said at the meeting of the National Liberal Party's National Council.
He pointed out that Romania can become strong and functional on two major conditions: that the Romanian state is rebuilt on fair foundations, and a healthy economy, with long-term, sustainable growth.
"For the success of Romania's development it is mandatory that we ensure a functional, citizen-oriented public environment, and a competitive private milieu," Iohannis added.
He proposed to the Liberals on Thursday that the president - National Liberal Party (PNL) partnership should become "the nucleus that will catalyze all energies" so that Romania becomes a functional state.
"I propose that the president - PNL partnership become the nucleus that will catalyze all energies so that Romania becomes a functional state, with efficient institutions in the service of the citizen," said Iohannis, who is participating in the National Council of the National Liberal Party.