PNL officials are resigning one after another, following the Liberals’ decision to go into opposition

Nicoleta Onofrei

19 October 2026, 14:56

Politics

Ilie Bolojan / FOTO: Inquam Photos / Octav Ganea

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Several dignitaries supported by the National Liberal Party have announced their resignations from the positions they hold in public administration and central institutions, after PNL leader Ilie Bolojan announced the party’s move into opposition.

Bolojan said that the liberals would give the Niculescu Government a “vote of necessity, conditional and specific,” and that the dignitaries supported by the party would leave their positions in the first days of the week. The decisions come amid changes to the political configuration and the investiture of the new Government.

Florin-Daniel Șandru resigned from his position as executive president of the Institute for the Investigation of Communist Crimes and the Memory of the Romanian Exile. His resignation will take effect on Wednesday, October 21, 2026. Șandru stated that the decision was a natural and necessary one, in accordance with his principles.

The prefect of Suceava, Bogdan George Păstrăv, and the prefect of Vrancea, Liviu Macovei. The prefect of Bistrița-Năsăud County, Stelian Dolha, have also announced their resignations; he submitted his resignation on Monday.

The prefect of Constanța, Adrian Picoiu, announced that he would resign after the investiture of the Luca Niculescu Government and that he would ensure the interim period until a replacement is appointed. Also, Angelica Fădor will leave her position as secretary of state at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, while Cristina Pocora will leave her position as state adviser at the Prime Minister’s Chancellery.

Context: The PNL negotiated conditions for Luca Niculescu’s government until shortly before entering opposition

Before deciding to enter opposition, Ilie Bolojan announced that the PNL was discussing a bilateral agreement with designated prime minister Luca Niculescu for a period of six months, so that the Liberals would remain in opposition but could support specific measures from the Government’s program, under conditions such as meeting the deficit target, fiscal discipline, and protecting investments.

Subsequently, Bolojan stated that, if the provisions of the political agreement were not respected by the time the budget law was approved, the PNL could submit a motion of no confidence; at the same time, he called on the Liberals to vote to invest the Niculescu Government, citing the need to end the interim period and invoking major budgetary difficulties at the level of certain public institutions.