Tensions within the Ruling Coalition

The co-leaders of the Social-Liberal Union have recently engaged in an exchange of verbal accusations.

Bogdan Matei, 17.12.2013, 13:39

The ruling collation in Bucharest seems to be sharing the same fate as all alliances, coalitions and cartels that have governed post-communist Romania. Just as the Democratic Convention in the 1996-2000 period, or the Alliance for Justice and Truth in the 2004-2008 period, the Social-Liberal Union emerged as an invulnerable opposition faction. Once risen to power however, fracture began to appear. Merged in one coalition, the Social-Democratic Party and the National Liberal Party won last year’s parliamentary elections with a landslide 70% majority.

They gained increasing popularity with growing public opposition towards president Traian Basescu and the pro-Basescu Liberal Democratic Party. Confronted with an inconspicuous opposition, made up of the Liberal Democratic Party, the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania and the Dan Diaconescu Party of the People, the Social Liberal Union has more delicate problems within the party ranks. On Monday, Social-Democrat Prime Minister Victor Ponta insisted on pointing out that the Social Liberal Union must stay united in order to achieve the objectives they had been voted to pursue. His statement follows an exchange of allegations of dishonesty with Senate President Liberal Crin Antonescu.

The two co-leaders contradict each other in statements regarding a draft law on the amnesty and pardon or certain sentences. After civil society opposed the draft law, Ponta accused Antonescu of calling on the Government to pass the draft law by emergency ordinance, and then publicly expressing his disapproval of the draft law. Victor Ponta:

“I obviously told him I would not pass the draft law by emergency ordinance. It is not the first time Mr. Antonescu tells one thing to his colleagues, one thing to us and another to the press. We got used to it”.

In turn, Antonescu has warned that unless the verbal conflict ceases, there is a high possibility for the alliance to break up.

“As long as it could rely on a friendly and personal relationship between the Social Democrats and the Liberals at political level, the Social-Liberal Union worked just fine. We are no longer in that position, and I hope we will be able to find resources to make this work in the future as well”.

Political pundits say the latest conflict within the ruling coalition might lead to its breakdown in 2014, an election year. Anyway, the two parties, which are affiliated to different European ideological groups, will have separate candidates in next year’s European legislative elections, while they are also expected to nominate different candidates for the presidential election scheduled towards the end of the year.

Although Crin Antonescu is currently the Social Liberal Union’s single official candidate for the office of president, many believe the Social-Democrats won’t miss up on a chance of nominating their own candidate so easily. Opinion polls place Victor Ponta as favourite to win a forthcoming presidential election, although he has not been officially tagged among the candidates.