Day of the long knives in PSD. Social Democrats decide reshuffling Dancila Gov’t. Dancila II Cabinet takes shape: Who the new ministers are

Social Democratic Party (PSD)’s National Executive Committee voted on Monday, at the Palace of Parliament, to replace several members of the Government led by Viorica Dancila. The Social Democrats decided to change the leaderships of eight ministries. Prior to PSD’s ExCom meeting, Defence Minister Mihai Fifor announced his resignation from the Government. Likewise, the Committee decided that Codrin Stefanescu will be the party’s new Secretary General, following Marian Neacsu’s exclusion. The PSD’s Executive Committee has decided what ministers will leave the Government and who their replacements will be. Ilan Laufer – Deputy Premier and Development Minister, replacing Paul Stanescu Gabriel Les – Defence Minister, replacing Mihai Fifor who resigned Lia Olguta Vasilescu – Transport Minister, replacing Lucian Sova Marius Budai – Labour Minister, replacing Lia Olguta Vasilescu Niculae Badalau – Economy Minister, replacing Danut Andrusca Alexandru Petrescu – Communications Minister, replacing Bogdan Cojocaru Daniel Breaz – Culture Minister, replacing George Ivascu Bogdan Matei – Youth and Sports Minister, replacing Ioana Bran Codrin Stefanescu will be the party’s new Secretary General, the National Executive Committee decided on Monday. Codrin Stefanescu will take over the office vacated following the exclusion of former PSD Secretary General Marian Neacsu.   Background   Social Democratic Party (PSD)’s National Executive Committee (NatExCom) convened on Monday, at the Palace of Parliament, the talks regarding the Government reshuffle, a topic that entered the party’s agenda as early as August, having been repeatedly postponed due to the schedule of Premier Viorica Dancila, the referendum for family and internal tensions. As early as August 21, PSD leader Liviu Dragnea was announcing that he was dissatisfied with some ministers and that a discussion regarding the activity of the governmental team will take place in the presence of the Premier during the first NatExCom meeting. The meeting focusing on the Government reshuffle was however postponed for more than two months, due to several reasons, such as the Head of Government’s trips abroad, the referendum on traditional family, as well as the internal tensions generated by the anti-Dragnea letter. Another point on the agenda of PSD’s NatExCom meeting was the situation of PSD Vice President Gabriela Firea. Referring to this topic, PSD Deputy Secretary General Codrin Stefanescu stated for MEDIAFAX that it is “mandatory” for the party to settle the case of the Bucharest Mayor who “is affecting the entire party” with her statements.   Decisions taken by inner circle on Sunday evening at Palace of Parliament, ahead of NatExCom meeting   Social Democratic Party (PSD) President Liviu Dragnea and some of the leaders of county branches took part on Sunday in an informal meeting that preceded the party’s National Executive Committee (NatExCom) meeting on Monday. Premier Viorica Dancila was also present at the “social event,” party sources told MEDIAFAX. According to the sources, the meeting featured talks on the Government reshuffle, but also on Bucharest Mayor Gabriela Firea’s latest political activity. Regarding the sanctions on Gabriela Firea, House lawmaker Catalin Radulescu (PSD) stated on Sunday, for MEDIAFAX, that the party’s NatExCom should adopt on Monday a measure “as drastic as possible,” namely it should exclude the Bucharest Mayor from the party or should withdraw the party’s political support for her. PSD Deputy Secretary General Codrin Stefanescu talked about this topic too, stating that it is “mandatory” for the party to settle the case of the Bucharest Mayor who is “affecting the entire party” with her statements. PSD Vaslui leader Dumitru Buzatu stated on Sunday, for MEDIAFAX, that he hopes the “race of exclusions” would not continue at the NatExCom meeting on Monday, but that this also depends on what Gabriela Firea wants, pointing out that the Bucharest Mayor may lose her party membership. On the other hand, Gabriela Firea said that she awaits her “sentence” at the PSD NatExCom meeting and that there will be no surprises in what concerns her position, since she knows that her removal from the helm of PSD Bucharest and Ilfov is “desired” because those who disagree with the PSD leader are “beheaded.”   Gabriela Firea resigns as acting president of PSD Bucharest   Ahead of the meeting in which the withdrawal of the political support for her was to be discussed, Gabriela Firea announced her resignation as acting president of PSD Bucharest, stating that the party statute should also be amended because it is not normal for an acting presidency to last two years. “I’ve resigned as acting president of PSD Bucharest. It’s a form of protest because Mr Dragnea has blocked elections within this party branch for 2 years in order for it to be vulnerable. Maybe the statute should also be amended because no acting presidency can last for 2 years. There was a plan. (…) I was thinking, had Mr Dragnea spent as much energy as he has spent to liquidate me, we would already have had the foundations of the regional hospitals laid,” Firea added. “The most important thing is for us to be human, and in the case of a party to be party members and then to hold offices. We know what will happen, even though the meeting hasn’t started. It’s not democratic to hold informal debates beforehand, in offices, restaurants,” Gabriela Firea stated ahead of PSD’s ExCom meeting. She also said that the local governance programme with which she won the elections has been neglected. “It has simply been neglected, to put it elegantly, or has been treated with indifference by Mr Dragnea, and all the promises we jointly made to Bucharesters have been kept only in what concerns the Bucharest City Hall’s prerogatives. I’m confident that Romanians, including Bucharesters, are far more intelligent than thought to be by some cynical politicians who, even before I showed up for this meeting, were relaying through middlemen the fact that only the Bucharest Mayor’s activity could be blamed for the grave problems that Bucharest is facing. It’s not true,” Firea added.     Message for Dragnea: You’ve abandoned the programme with which we won the elections   In the document addressed...

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