Prime Minister-designate Siegfried Muresan explained on Wednesday why he did not go to meet Social Democratic Party (PSD) leader Sorin Grindeanu at the Social Democrats' headquarters, saying he considered it natural for talks about the Government's investiture to take place in Parliament.
"Mr Grindeanu and I did not agree to have a particular meeting at a particular time and in a particular place. What Mr Grindeanu and I agreed on was the following: I called him at around 11:30 am and Mr Grindeanu asked me to send him the main points of the government programme. I told him that we were still at the stage of working on it, that we were working on the main programme, the full government programme, but that I would send him the guidelines during the day. I told him that I would hold a press conference at 12:00, followed by a meeting with the minorities' group, and that I would be pleased to see him afterwards. And he said: we'll talk later. After that, I held the press conference, met with the minorities' group and worked on the government programme to finalise the guidelines, which I sent to Mr Grindeanu this afternoon. I believe I sent them to Mr President Grindeanu between 5:00 and 6:00 pm, along with my full willingness to discuss them with him. I also sent them to the press and made them public," Muresan said on B1 TV private television broadcaster.
He expressed confidence that he would manage to have a discussion with Grindeanu in the coming days and said he would have considered it natural to meet the PSD leader in Parliament.
"I went to the parliamentary groups of the National Liberal Party, USR [Save Romania Union], UDMR [Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania] and the national minorities' group in the Romanian Parliament and it is natural for the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies to want a strong Parliament, a Parliament where discussions on the Government's investiture can take place. Just as I met with all the other groups in the Romanian Parliament, I would find it natural to meet with the PSD in the Romanian Parliament as well. It would be strange if the very Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies were to run away from the Romanian Parliament to meet me somewhere else. (...) I treat all parties in the same way and, as a gesture of courtesy, a natural gesture of courtesy on my part, I went to visit the parties at their parliamentary groups, I went to speak with MPs and it seems natural to me that we should also have a discussion with the PSD in Parliament. But I am sure that Mr Grindeanu and I will have the opportunity to discuss this, including the location of the meeting, but always on an equal footing. I do not tell Mr Grindeanu what time or where we should meet and neither does he tell me what time or where we should meet. I am sure we will manage to agree on this as two civilised people, as two MPs who engage in civilised dialogue," Muresan said.
PSD leader Sorin Grindeanu waited for designated prime minister Siegfried Muresan at the party's central headquarters until 5:00 pm on Wednesday. As Muresan did not arrive, Grindeanu left the headquarters and again advised the Prime Minister-designate to resign his mandate.
"From our perspective, at this point it is clear that Mr Siegfried Muresan does not want to be prime minister. In the first part of the day, I waited for him at my office in the Chamber of Deputies. In the second part, I waited for him here. I even waited in electronic form for a government programme to be sent to me. We do not expect it to be the final version, because we know that these things are updated, but I expected to have at least the broad outlines of this government programme. In other words, what I told you two or three hours ago, namely that we believe he does not genuinely want to be prime minister, is the truth. So I would tell him what I also said on Monday after the meeting of the National Standing Bureau: we are wasting time, so he should resign his mandate. (...) Given the way he has treated us, at least over these past few days, there is no way he can obtain the PSD's votes in this manner," Grindeanu said at the PSD's central headquarters.
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