Antonescu says he would accept Bolojan’s nomination as PM if he were president

Asked whether he would put Ilie Bolojan forward as prime minister, Crin Antonescu did not rule out the possibility, but under certain conditions.

Asked whether he feels he has the full support of the coalition for the presidential elections, Crin Antonescu replied: ”Yes, I have no doubt about that, if by coalition we mean the leadership, the decision-makers, in the broadest sense, up to the Congress of the three parties and a parliamentary group, the minority group, which have given me this support and proposed this candidacy. If this is what we mean by a coalition, yes, the support is total, there has been no cracks, there has been no doubt. If we mean the total number of possible, estimable voters of these political parties, here I believe that no one can claim to be total, unanimous, no one can claim to know what everyone will vote for. It is a bigger dispute than ever on some voters who do not respect the party’s rules (…), so it is an absolutely open battle and of course it is my role as a candidate to dispute, to win the vote of every pesedist voter, liberal voter or UDMR voter”.

Asked if he was weakened by the fact that there are voices asking him to withdraw from the race in favor of Ilie Bolojan, Crin Antonescu replied, ”No, within the parties there were very few voices within the parties that asked for this (…). I have often expressed my intellectual esteem for Mr. Valeriu Stoica, a political esteem I have no reason to express in an exaggerated way at this moment and it is not even significant in relation to the entire party leadership, headed by Ilie Bolojan at the time, with a National Council of the party, in which out of six hundred and something votes, where Mr. Stoica is a member, there was only one abstention (…). It does not weaken my position”.

Asked also if he would propose Ilie Bolojan as Prime Minister if he became President, Crin Antonescu replied: ”If I were in a situation where following a resignation or a fall of the Government, following a motion of no confidence or following early elections or not, a parliamentary majority would propose Ilie Bolojan, I see no reason to reject such a proposal”.

Asked if he would advocate within the coalition to change the government, if he became president, Crin Antonescu explained: ”No. If I become president, I will not advocate anything within the coalition and I will not be within the coalition. If I become president, I will plead for what the Constitution prescribes, for the proper functioning of the Government”.

Asked if this would mean that Marcel Ciolacu would remain prime minister with him as president, Crin Antonescu replied, ”Well, it would be unconstitutional, I have no way of changing it (…). The political agreements of the coalition are those of the coalition, the president is no longer a member of the coalition, I am not Mr. Băsescu, I am not Mr. Iohannis, I will not arrange things within a coalition, I will not force things within a party, these are things that in democracy must be done naturally and let’s clarify with Mr. Ciolacu, because there are candidates who sell the skin of the bear in the forest, including Mr. Ponta, who changes Mr. Ciolacu, no, he cannot change him. If this Government does things which in my opinion, as President, are not in line with good governance, with the national interest, I will have a discussion with the Prime Minister, I will have a discussion with the Government, I will attend Government meetings, as the Constitution gives me the right to do, I will make my opinion public, but there is no point in starting from the idea that the election of a President automatically entails the reshuffle of the Government or the bringing in of a new Prime Minister. These are electioneering and I am not prepared to do that”.