Pîslaru on Grindeanu's demand for Muresan to resign from the EP: Absurd, a double standard

On Wednesday, Liberal Dragos Pîslaru criticized the demand made by PSD leader Sorin Grindeanu—that Prime Minister-designate Siegfried Muresan resign from the European Parliament—pointing out that Grindeanu had not made the same request when MEP Eugen Tomac was nominated for the post; he described the move as "a nonsensical double standard and an absurd demand."

"PSD chairman Sorin Grindeanu is calling on Siegfried Muresan today to resign from the European Parliament. He claims that this is the only way Siegfried Muresan could prove he is 'serious' about his intention to secure the role of Prime Minister of Romania. Yet, back in July, when the President of Romania nominated Eugen Tomac for a cabinet that included the PSD, Mr. Grindeanu did not utter a single word about the need for Mr. Tomac to resign from the European Parliament," Pîslaru wrote on Facebook.

He added that this demand is "a senseless double standard and an absurd request, which only exacerbates the political crisis into which the PSD and AUR plunged Romania more than five months ago."

PSD President Sorin Grindeanu stated on Wednesday that Prime Minister-designate Siegfried Muresan should resign from the European Parliament to demonstrate that he wishes to become Prime Minister and is ready to assume responsibility for Romania. Grindeanu asserted that, through his attitude over the past few days, Muresan has conveyed the message that he does not want this position.

"Mr. Muresan ought—at least from our perspective—to make a move demonstrating that his intention to become Prime Minister is genuine; the image he has projected in recent days is that he does not want the job and is doing everything possible to avoid assuming the role. Therefore, I believe he needs to show us—the Romanian people—that he truly desires this position, that he wants to be Prime Minister; to prove this, I think he should announce his resignation from the European Parliament. He must demonstrate that he is fully assuming responsibility for Romania. This is a moment of truth for Mr. Muresan. Given the specific circumstances—and the fact that he was elected on the joint PSD-PNL ticket a year and a half ago—he has our full backing to step down as an MEP. Otherwise, he gives the impression of playing cheap political games while Romania is in the midst of a deep crisis," said Grindeanu.