Romania’s prime minister, Marcel Ciolacu (PSD), said that he would step down if the Social Democrats’ junior partner, the Liberal Party (PNL), decides to pull out of the ruling coalition. 

Furthermore, he expressed regrets that his party accepted to enter a ruling coalition with the Liberals three years ago, “for the benefit of Romanians,” Digi24 reported. At that time, the Social Democrats would have got the majority of votes in would-be snap elections, PM Ciolacu said – somehow implying that this would be the outcome if the Liberals caused a major political crisis now by pulling out of the ruling coalition.

The prime minister’s statement may be seen as a warning communicated as a good-faith statement.

The Soclai Democrats’ leader is pointing to the catastrophic impact such a decision (leaving the ruling coalition) would have on the future of the Liberal Party. 

The Social Democrats will under no circumstance accept backing a minority cabinet in a full electoral year, watching the Liberals turn into an opposition party for electoral benefits, PM Ciolacu implied. Instead, the Social Democrats will make (Liberal) president Klaus Iohannis and his Liberal Party responsible for the major political crisis that would follow the collapse of the incumbent coalition.

The Liberals are indeed considering the option of pulling out of the ruling coalition, dissatisfied with the Social Democrats’ request to back a sole presidential candidate, namely prime minister Ciolacu. The alternative would be pulling out of the ruling coalition in an attempt to regain its traditional voters lost precisely for their alliance with the Social Democrats. This is not an alternative, as PM Ciolacu just informed them of the diplomatic decision to step down under such a scenario.

The bottom line is that the Liberal Party is quickly running out of options. Such options vanished when president Klaus Iohannis pushed them to join the Social Democrats three years ago. 

iulian@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Inquam Photos/George Calin)