Bolojan: PNL sees feasible transitional government based on technocrats

Acting Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan said he hoped President Nicusor Dan would nominate a prime minister as soon as possible, stressing that the period of interim government had gone on for too long, given that priorities such as the budget revision and the preparation of the draft state budget can only be addressed by a government with full powers.He was responding to a question about how the PNL (National Liberal Party) would position itself if Luca Niculescu were nominated for the post of prime minister, and whether he had discussed this possibility with the president.'I have spoken with the president in recent days, because we have also had institutional meetings within the Supreme Council of National Defence (CSAT), but we did not discuss a name for prime minister, so no such name was put forward. Therefore, I cannot comment. Mr Luca Niculescu is a good government colleague, a secretary of state at the Foreign Ministry, a diplomat who, in the position he held, overseeing Romania's accession to the OECD, did good work, and I consider him a professional of Romanian diplomacy. But beyond that, no such matter was discussed,' Ilie Bolojan told B1 TV private television station on Thursday evening.He explained that, unlike other European countries such as Belgium, Romania does not have a political system in which government mechanisms allow a caretaker government to operate in such circumstances for a very long period.'We have legislation that applies up to certain deadlines, and we need budget revisions. (...) During this period, it is very important that we carry out the budget revision. (...) This government cannot carry out this budget revision because it does not have the authority to do so. It has to be done through an emergency ordinance. (...) Without a budget revision, you risk being unable to pay salaries in certain areas, and you risk being unable to cover certain expenses. Therefore, from the standpoint of normal administration, it is necessary to have a government as soon as possible that can realign certain expenditures,' Bolojan said.He added that preparing the draft state budget was another important task that could only be undertaken by a government with full powers.'What the government I led did last year and this year will have an impact mainly until the end of this year. If we want to continue reducing our interest costs in the coming years, we need to reduce our deficits - the difference between what we spend and what we can afford. Bear in mind that you cannot reduce deficits from 9.3%, which is what we had in 2024, to a balanced position overnight. This is particularly significant given that, of the deficit we are expected to have at the end of this year, approximately 6-6.2%, 3% represents merely the interest we pay on loans we contracted in previous years, when we were running large deficits,' Bolojan explained.Against this backdrop, he expressed hope that President Nicusor Dan would appoint a prime minister as soon as possible.'I hope that the president will make a nomination very soon, so that the prime minister-designate can begin a serious discussion with the parties. We have a responsibility, in this prolonged crisis caused by the irresponsible way in which the PSD behaved, by bringing a motion of no confidence without putting anything in its place, to find a solution. Because this is no longer about Bolojan, or about one person or another; it is simply about ensuring that Romania is a country with a functioning administration, that we prepare a sound budget for 2027 and, last but not least, that we address the issue of confidence in the direction in which the country is moving,' Bolojan said.   Bolojan also said that the National Liberal Party (PNL) sees feasible to form a transitional government based on technocrats whose main task would be to adopt the public policies needed to prepare for next year.He was responding to a question about whether the PNL had softened its position on voting for the next government and would be prepared to support a government that could also include, for example, the Social Democratic Party (PSD)."No. Personally, both I and the party I represent remain consistent with what we said, both in the spring and in the summer. If you remember, before this no-confidence motion, we warned the PSD that such a motion would trigger a crisis and that, if it no longer honoured any agreements, we would no longer be part of a government with the PSD. That position has remained unchanged. Following the attempts that were made to form governments, you may remember what happened with the proposed Tomac government, which was never put to a vote. We then had the attempt to form the Vestea government, which was based on a betrayal from within the PNL. When that also failed, the solution we proposed at the beginning of the summer, and which I consider feasible, was to form a transitional government, as I called it, a government of truce. I see a technocratic government in this formula, with a prime minister, but mainly one based on technocrats, because otherwise, what happens? You have a government with just a few technocratic proxies who have no knowledge of the relevant field and are not qualified people. In effect, that means a formula in which some people are pulling the strings from behind while others are out front and can take responsibility," Ilie Bolojan said on Thursday evening on B1 TV private television broadcaster.He stressed that such a government would represent a common-sense solution, outside political calculations."But such a formula, made up of competent people, and we have such people in every sector in Romania, could be a genuine transitional arrangement whose important mission would be to do what we discussed earlier: take the necessary measures to prepare for next year, complete the PNRR (...), carry out the budget revision to ensure normal functioning, prepare next year's budget and get us through this winter. In this way, it would be a common-sense solution. I have proposed it before, but unfortunately there was not enough critical mass to support it. We are willing to discuss this, as I have said, so that we can find a solution for Romania, because today this is no longer about political calculations. Time is passing and it is not passing in favour of one political figure or another, but to Romania's detriment, and that is not a good thing," Bolojan said.