PNL's Motreanu floats ironic scenario naming PSD's Toma premier, drawing rebuke from Manda amid Romanian government deadlock

The scenario

Dan Motreanu, first vice-president of the National Liberal Party (PNL), detailed a hypothetical chain of events on Saturday that mirrored the recent, unsuccessful appointment of Adrian Veștea. In his telling, President Nicușor Dan would, on a Sunday morning, quietly designate PSD mayor Constantin Toma as prime minister without informing PSD leader Sorin Grindeanu.

“Imagine the following scenario… Sunday morning, 9:00. The President of Romania designates a PSD mayor (why not Constantin Toma?) for the position of prime minister. Before the designation, he does not notify the PSD president, Sorin Grindeanu. Nor does the mayor who is to be designated inform Sorin Grindeanu, because he is asked to keep the secret. 'The national interest' demands discretion.”

Motreanu then walked through the sequence in detail, describing how the PNL would immediately announce support for the PSD candidate and begin making 'games' inside the PSD, while the social democrats would formally oppose the move. The president's pick would telephone PSD parliamentarians offering ministerial posts and other positions. Some would accept, and the PSD logo would appear next to their names.

A parallel with the Veștea precedent

The entire construction was presented as a direct reversal of the real-world designation of PNL's Adrian Veștea, whose proposed government was rejected by parliament. Motreanu noted that the scenario follows the same thread, only swapping the party roles. He added that leaders of local PSD organisations would also be contacted, including from 'institutions guarding the Constitution', and offered posts as state secretaries or agency heads in exchange for supporting the government.

“All of this, of course, exclusively in the name of the national interest.”

On Monday in the scenario, the cabinet list reaches parliament; the PSD asks for the logo to be removed, the request is denied, and on voting day several PSD MPs ignore the party line. The government still falls because it lacks enough votes, and the PSD decides not to sanction anyone.

PSD's reply

PSD secretary general Claudiu Manda dismissed the entire exercise. He told Motreanu to abandon the scenarios and argued that the liberals do not want to leave government even 'with boiled water'. Manda also directed a sharp metaphorical jab at the PNL.

“You shut yourselves in the pantry, turned on the light, and found Ciucu nibbling in a corner.”

The exchange underlines the frosty atmosphere between the two parties after the Veștea government fell and political consultations stalled. Motreanu concluded his post with an ironic flourish.

“In the laboratories where grand political strategies are baked, the saving solution appears: the one who is attacked must unconditionally support the attacker. Therefore, PSD will have to support PNL, without an agreement on public policies and without reciprocity.”