Claudiu Manda responds to Siegfried Mureșan, saying the PSD does not have to pass the vote of confidence test for the Government’s investiture

Prime Minister-designate Siegfried Mureșan is trying to resume negotiations with the PSD to secure the votes needed for the Government’s investiture, but he has received a tough response from the Social Democrats’ secretary-general, Claudiu Manda.

Mureșan announced that he is in dialogue with PSD President Sorin Grindeanu and that the two are expected to discuss the governing programme. The prime minister-designate said the negotiations would take place officially and that he would not try to persuade individual Social Democratic lawmakers.

Claudiu Manda, however, turned the phrase “moment of truth” back on him, saying that Mureșan should have distanced himself from the direction of the former government led by Ilie Bolojan. The PSD leader criticised measures associated with austerity and argued that they had lowered living standards and harmed the economy. These statements represent the PSD’s political position.

Manda also said that the PSD, the largest party in Parliament, does not have to pass the test proposed by Mureșan and accused the PNL of blocking the formation of a stable government. The PSD leadership has already recommended that lawmakers not vote for the Mureșan Cabinet in its current form, but the final decision must be taken by the party’s statutory bodies. The PNL, USR and UDMR support the candidacy, but their votes do not secure the required majority.