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PM-designate Orban: Single-party Liberal gov't is our option too, no requests to participate in governing so far

Prime minister-designate Ludovic Orban said on Thursday, after talks with the delegation of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE), that as a principle, the formation headed by Calin Popescu-Tariceanu did not raise any issue and that the Liberals also favor a PNL single-party government.

"Following the discussion with the ALDE delegation, I took note of the opinions and requests expressed and I can tell you that most of the points raised are already settled, from my point of view. Flat tax - it's broadly known that the National Liberal Party is the one that introduced the tax reform consisting of the single tax rate and is a staunch defender thereof. As regards the focus on investments in the 2020 budget draft, this is obviously our objective too, increasing budget allocations for investments. As for unlocking large-scale infrastructure projects and even setting in place a system to monitor the progress of such projects, we also consider this to be an on-point request that we will put into practice. As for Hidroelectrica's listing, of course we said 'Yes'. We have been supporting this for a long time now and if we had been at rule, it's most likely that Hidroelectrica would have been listed since long. Moreover, we also want to list other state-owned companies, such as the Bucharest Airport, CEC Bank - which can be capitalized this way or through an IPO," Orban said.

He went on to say that as regards the requirements on the judiciary, the PNL respects the will the citizens expressed in the referendum, specifically that the government should have no right to issue emergency ordinances on the judiciary.

"Of course, this doesn't mean that we do not maintain our point of view, which is already enshrined in the bills we tabled to Parliament - from the bill that repeals the compensatory appeal or repeals it at least for the grave acts committed with violence, murders, rapes and other serious offenses. Regarding the dismantling of the special section for the investigation of criminal offenses in the judiciary, the National Liberal Party has already submitted a bill on this subject. As for other issues related to the two-round election, the National Liberal Party has submitted a draft law which is now under debate in the Chamber of Deputies and which we support. As such, we have no issue with this request either. As a principle, we have nothing to object to any of the points of view expressed by our negotiation partners," said the PM-designate.

Ludovic Orban emphasized that a single-party government is PNL's option too. "ALDE expressed their option for a single-party Liberal government. This is our choice too. So far there have been no explicit requests for participation in the government with ministers. Of course, at a different level, we are open to experts, competent professionals or solutions our partners might suggest. That's what we said in the previous discussions with all our partners," said the PNL leader.

At the end of Thursday's negotiations with Pro Romania, UDMR and ALDE, the PM-designate said that he is confident that the Liberals will succeed in having the government invested, together with the formations that backed the no-confidence motion.

"I am confident that together with the political parties with the help of which we managed to achieve this fundamental objective for Romania, namely to topple the PSD Government led by Viorica Dancila, we will also succeed to have the government's invested. So far I do not see any major points of divergence that could cause one formation or another to not vote for the new government. We embarked together on a course, and I don't see why we would stop halfway, because the Dancila Government, or the remains of this lineup is further exercising power - indeed to a limited extent - although it has been dismissed by no-confidence motion. Each day new illegal acts are being committed at the Victoria Palace, they illegally pursue fixing into positions their political clientele whom they promoted through the back door, they generate public spending with no financial coverage. They also sign contracts or try to force the signing of contracts for which the the legal conditions are not met just in order to generate obligations for the future government. Each day the Dancila Government further stays in command poses a major risk for Romania and causes negative consequences in the long and medium term for everyone," said Ludovic Orban.  

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