Romania's Social Democrats summon leading body to reassess ruling coalition membership

The interim president of the Romanian Social Democratic Party (PSD), Sorin Grindeanu, has summoned the party's leading body on August 11 to analyse the "situation created in the governing coalition" after the reformist party USR opposed the decree of a national day of mourning for former president Ion Iliescu. The PSD leader says that the USR's actions "affect the governmental balance."

The meeting summoned by Grindeanu seems, however, more related to the imminent congress of the party, where the interim leader seeks a full term as president.

"The meeting of the National Permanent Bureau aims to assess the impact of these events on the functioning of the governing Coalition and to establish a clear position of the party in relation to the continuation of governmental collaboration, in conditions of mutual respect and political correctness," Sorin Grindeanu wrote on Facebook.

In related news, providing a broader context, MP Marius Budai warned over the weekend in a Facebook post that lawmakers from Moldova's counties should vote on a future no-confidence motion against the government if the construction works on the motorways A7 and A8 connecting their region to more developed parts of Romania are halted. Budai has not mentioned that such a motion should be directly filed by PSD MPs, however.

Budai's message expresses broader discontent among a part of the Social Democratic Party with the incumbent leadership's ability to provide the party with a more prominent position in the ruling coalition, where the party still holds the strongest position in terms of the number of lawmakers. It also signals that the regional groups within the party are positioning themselves ahead of the party congress and are ready to negotiate with potential candidates. Besides Grindeanu, Titus Corlatean, on the ticket of a possible group backed by former prime ministers Adrian Nastase and Victor Ponta, announced his candidacy.

The option of deferring the works on A7 and A8 motorways emerged as a possible scenario in July, as segments of the two motorways can no longer be financed under the Recovery and Resilience National Plan (PNRR). Minister of investments Dragos Pislaru (USR) assured that funding would be secured under the multiannual financial framework 2021-2027, but this remains uncertain as a large volume of contracts compete for the transport budget under the MFF budget.

(Photo source: Inquam Photos/Sabin Cirstoveanu)