Romanian PM: My relationship with Antonescu was key for USL, but nobody can win presidential race without PSD

Recent statements by the ruling coalition USL co-leader Crin Antonescu seem to mark the beginning of the end for the Social Liberal Union USL, but the other head of USL, Prime Minister Victor Ponta recently made some remarks which point to stability within the coalition. Ponta reminded of the impeccable and excellent personal relationship between him and Antonescu. “I care deeply for this relationship, which was the cornerstone of USL,” said Ponta during a recent TV show.

He added he will continue to support Antonescu in the race for the presidential seat, but that we will 'hide' if the polls show he'll be affecting Antonescu's campaign. However, he also pointed out that “without the Social Democratic Party, nobody wins the presidential race.” So far polls show Ponta is not really a burden for Antonescu's presidential hopes, on the contrary, he said. After publicly expressing his disagreement over Prime Minister Ponta's nomination for chief prosecutor and head of the Anti-Corruption Agency DNA, Antonescu moved to not so subtle criticism in public statements of the USL co-head PM Ponta. He said the PM is now at the mercy of president Traian Basescu, and that justice in Romania has become a responsibility of a Basescu – Ponta accord. After previous statements saying that, despite the disagreements over recent justice proposals, the USL will not break up, Antonescu argued further that it is not the fear of losing support for the upcoming presidential elections that he did not approach the USL dissolution issue so far. “If someone thinks my political decisions are influenced by the presidential candidacy, they are wrong. If I didn't place the problem of breaking the USL on the table, it was not because of the presidency, which is a year and a half in the future, because that's an era from now,” said Antonescu. He also reminded of the support he gave Ponta to become a PM, but ruled out a candidacy for the presidential seat if he concludes that its success would depend entirely on whether he'd be 'holding hands' with the PM or not. “Victor Ponta became a Prime Minister also by holding hands with me, we were inseparable. We even attended matches together […]. If for a second I conclude that the success of my possible candidacy depends on whether I hold hands with Mr Ponta or not, I will not run, even if, of course, I like being with Mr Ponta,” said Antonescu, who is also the president of the National Liberal Party. editor@romania-insider.com (photo source: Victor Ponta's Facebook page)