AUR leader George Simion criticized President Nicusor Dan on Tuesday for failing to designate a prime minister, claiming that the head of state is "increasingly liable to suspension and dismissal."
"Nicusor Dan's attitude toward this crisisa crisis of his own makingis hardly reassuring. Far from it. We are now on the 84th day without a government in Romania. This is the ultimate proof of Nicusor Dan's irresponsibility and a grave violation of the Constitution. (...) I do not believe the framers of Romania's Constitution ever imagined that someone would arrive at Cotroceni Palace thinking they could indefinitely postpone the nomination of a prime minister. With each passing day, Nicusor Dan becomes increasingly liable to the democratic constitutional process of suspension followed by dismissal. The political crisis must be resolved through democratic channels and constitutional means (...) Stability is needed, predictability is needed, and a fully empowered government is needed as soon as possible," Simion said on Tuesday during a press conference at Parliament.
The AUR leader stated that the party's parliamentary group leaders, Mihai Enache and Petrisor Peiu, have been mandated to hold discussions with all parties represented in Parliament in order to "reach elections as soon as possible and secure a stable government for the longest possible termideally four years."
"We cannot go on playing games with interim or temporary appointments, with people who do not offer predictability and stability. I reiterate that, in my capacity as AUR president, I have not promised a vote to anyone. (...) Our position remains the same: nothing that does not include us will receive our vote (...) We will not vote for any government of which we are not a part," the AUR leader added.
He maintains that PSD President Sorin Grindeanu "is not a serious man," but noted that AUR had held discussions with the PSD leader through Mihai Enache and Petrisor Peiu.
Referring to the current extraordinary session of Parliament, Simion announced that AUR would not support bills "that affect Romania in the medium and long term."
"I would draw the attention of those who portray themselves as pro-European to the fact that it is not in Romania's interestunder current conditionsto vote for the Decarbonization Law, to vote for the SAFE loan (especially right now), or to vote for the bill on the transparency of public officials' assets in its current form," George Simion detailed.
Regarding the drones shot down over Romanian territory, Simion commended the Romanian military personnel involved in such missions but argued that Romania is "poorly equipped to deal with these attacks."
"We commend the Romanian Army. We deplore the fact that these professionalsgiven their paylack the proper equipment, yet still manage to work miracles and defend the country. We condemn, and have condemned from the very beginning, Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. It was predictable that this would affect us. For four years, the Romanian state failed to invest in what was normal and naturalanti-drone radars, machine-gun systems, helicopters (...). We express the hope that these attacksfrom either sideare not intentional," stated the AUR leader.
On July 1, the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) decided to initiate the process to suspend Nicusor Dan and to start proceedings for organizing early elections.
The decision was made by the AUR National Leadership Council (CNC) during an extraordinary meeting held in Alexandria, Teleorman.
The 135 members of the AUR National Steering Committee present at the meeting voted unanimously to initiate the procedure to suspend President Nicusor Dan and to begin a dialogue with other political forces to that end.
Among the reasons underlying this move, AUR cites "the exclusion of a significant portion of Romanians from decision-making regarding Romania's future, as well as the refusal to nominate the second candidate for prime minister, as required by the Constitution."
