Consultations at Cotroceni/Ciolos: There must be balance between PM, Chamber Speaker

Dacian Ciolos, co-chair of the Save Romania Union - Party of Liberty, Unity and Solidarity (USR PLUS) Alliance, said that the alliance wants a trust-based agreement for a future governing coalition, but also that there must be a balance in terms of holding the position of prime minister and that of the Chamber of Deputies Speaker.

In a press statement made on Monday, following the consultations at the Cotroceni Palace, Dacian Ciolos underlined that USR PLUS does not want "any formula in which PSD [Social Democratic Party] can be involved" in the government.

"This is why we have gone and continue to go to these discussions openly, to find solutions, without red lines of principle, but with the aim of finding a balanced solution. No, the solution is not balanced when everything goes to one side and the others take only the rest. We just want to have this construction based on trust, which is why we said that we have an option for both the Prime Minister and the Chamber of Deputies Speaker, so let's be very clear, these are the two positions - and the Senate has an important role in the state hierarchy - but the majorities are built in the Chamber of Deputies, first of all, and the Government is the one that implements the governing program. And then we have options either for PM or the Chamber of Deputies, which have nothing to do with the goal of arranging posts for one person or another. This is not the case, but it is this balance that we are looking for and want," Ciolos specified.

He stressed that the negotiations must include the program and governance objectives, as well as the construction of the coalition to carry out this program.

According to the USR PLUS leader, the organization of early elections would "represent a catastrophe for Romania and an irresponsibility" on the part of the one who advances such a variant.

Dan Barna, co-chair of USR PLUS, said that the idea that "the whole decision in the state is in the hands of a single party in the coalition and the other coalition partners are training partners" is not feasible for the government's credibility.