Interim deputy PM Oana Gheorghiu and minister Dragoș Pîslaru join PNL ahead of Bolojan’s leadership bid at Sunday’s extraordinary congress

Membership push before the vote

Vicepremier Oana Gheorghiu and Minister of Investments and European Projects Dragoș Pîslaru submitted their adhesion requests to the PNL branch in Sector 6, Bucharest, on Saturday, confirming that both will stand on the slate with which Ilie Bolojan seeks to retain the party presidency at the extraordinary congress set for Sunday at 12:00 at Romexpo.

Gheorghiu, a co-founder of the Dăruiește Viață association and interim deputy prime minister in the Bolojan government, had not previously been a party member. She explained her decision in a public message, linking it directly to the political turmoil of recent months.

The chaos into which Romania has been pushed made me understand that time no longer has patience with us. I accepted Ilie Bolojan’s proposal to be part of his team in the National Liberal Party. I stand beside him and all honest Romanians who want the modernization of Romania, an end to waste, the elimination of privileges and the country set back on the right path.

Pîslaru, who also serves as interim Labour Minister after the Social Democrats withdrew from the cabinet, confirmed through sources cited by several outlets that he too will seek a leadership post on Bolojan’s list.

A contested leadership landscape

The PNL congress is unfolding against a backdrop of multiple internal and legal battles. This past week saw a court suspend some internal party decisions, a DNA case targeting Bucharest mayor Ciprian Ciucu, and a final ruling by the High Court declaring USR leader Dominic Fritz incompatible and barring him from elective office until 2030. A faction of liberal parliamentarians has also challenged party decisions in court, deepening a rift over whether to re-forge a governing alliance with the Social Democrats.

Amid that friction, the National Extraordinary Council voted on Friday to hold the congress, approving statutory changes that create a new Permanent National Bureau and dissolve the Executive Bureau. The decision passed with 566 votes in favour, 97 against and 18 abstentions, while the statutory modifications were adopted with 551 votes for, 128 against and 3 abstentions.

The vacated first vice-president slot

Ciprian Ciucu, who had been expected to take the post of first vice-president, announced on Saturday that he would not stand, citing the DNA investigation. Political sources told News.ro and other outlets that the top vice-presidency will now be filled by either Gheorghiu or Pîslaru. Another name in the race for a senior leadership role is Senate President Mircea Abrudean, who posted on Friday that the party needs a congress that “re-confirms our modernising direction of the last year” and resists any attempt at external influence.

The candidacy filing window closes at 17:00 on Saturday. Bolojan has already declared his bid, while rival Adrian Veștea, the prime minister-designate, withdrew, denouncing what he called a “democratic simulacrum” that installs “dictatorship in the party.”

What Sunday decides

With the new statutory framework in place, the congress will vote for a president and a complete leadership team. For Gheorghiu, the move formalises a year-long role in which she coordinated state-company reforms and administrative simplification. Pîslaru’s alignment with the liberals is not abrupt: he disclosed last month that he had discussed joining the party with Bolojan. The immediate task for whoever emerges with the mandate is to stabilise the party’s direction while managing the fallout from ongoing judicial proceedings and a fragmented parliament.