Party discipline in the opposition
Vote of investiture given to Ludovic Orban's Liberal cabinet causes damage to the Romanian left.
Ştefan Stoica, 06.11.2019, 13:50
The Social Democratic Party has lost
power and has entered the straight line ahead of the presidential elections in
a weaker position. The fact that there were Social Democratic MPs who voted to
bring down their own government and for the investiture of a new, Liberal,
government despite facing expulsion, is sufficient indication of the mood
inside the party. The purges that will follow will not be able to calm things
down and a possible election loss will even deepen the problem. Having said
that, the Social Democratic Party has been through such turmoil before, even
division, but the party has survived.
A difficult situation is also facing
the Pro Romania party, a centre-left
splinter group founded by Social Democrats who went into conflict with the
former leader of the party Liviu Dragnea, who is now serving a prison sentence
for corruption. Pro Romania, led by the former prime minister Victor Ponta,
voted in favour of the no-confidence motion against Viorica Dancila’s cabinet
but later decided not to endorse the Liberal cabinet for ideological reasons.
However, some of this party’s MPs,
including the former ministers Daniel Constantin and Sorin Campeanu, voted in
favour of the new cabinet, invoking the need for the country to have a
functioning government, and are not facing severe punishment. Pro Romania
decided to dismiss them from their positions as county coordinators and withdraw
political support for all the positions they hold in Parliament. Moral
integrity is one of the values all Pro Romania members must possess, and the
punishment of the seven MPs is a natural consequence of losing the trust given
to them, is how the party leadership justified the decision. Daniel Constantin
responded by saying he will leave the party.
The former prime minister Mihai
Tudose, now a Euro MP, accused Ponta of punishing people for their opinions and
of being authoritarian, in a manner reminiscent of Liviu Dragnea. He advised
Ponta to take responsibility for the failure of his negotiations and to resign
as party leader.
