PNL vice-chair warns president Nicușor Dan against PSD rescue ahead of Monday consultations: “You are in grave error”

A pre-emptive warning

With political consultations set for Monday, 14 July 2026, National Liberal Party (PNL) vice-president Alexandru Muraru issued a forceful public statement telling President Nicușor Dan not to ask the liberals to prop up the Social Democratic Party (PSD). The message was posted on Facebook on Saturday, 11 July, and has been carried by multiple Romanian outlets. Muraru framed the intervention as a safeguard against what he called back-room arrangements and artificial political formulas aimed only at assembling a parliamentary majority.

A few messages for Nicușor Dan ahead of Monday's consultations. Do not ask us to save the PSD. Romanians are not interested in the future of the PSD (that is clear from the latest polls), and even less so are we. Romanians did not vote for the National Liberal Party to become the lifebuoy of a party that has generated instability, blockages and a loss of trust year after year.

A definitive rupture with the PSD

Muraru insisted that the break between the PNL and the PSD is final and non-negotiable. He told the president that liberals alone will decide the future of the liberals, regardless of any court rulings or attempted interference in the party's internal affairs. The statement explicitly rejects any resurrection of a PNL-PSD alliance, describing such a move as out of step with voter sentiment as reflected in recent polls.

The National Liberal Party is done with the PSD for good, no matter how many court decisions are handed down and no matter how much you try to meddle in our party's internal life. The future of the liberals will be decided by the liberals.

Extremism and the AUR argument

A central thread in Muraru's message is the claim that the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) is a direct political offspring of the PSD. He argued that any attempt to fight extremism alongside the social democrats is misguided, because the PSD itself created the conditions that allowed AUR to flourish. The statement contends that an honest fight against extremists would have required cooperation with the PNL and other right-of-centre democratic forces, not with the PSD.

If you thought you would fight extremism alongside the PSD, you are in grave error. AUR is the child born of the PSD that has now surpassed its parent and teacher in cynicism, lies, and populism.

Polling and political reality

Muraru urged the president to consult the latest polling data before Monday's discussions, asserting that the numbers show declining public interest in the PSD's political survival. He framed the consultations as a forward-looking exercise that should reflect current voter preferences rather than the seat arithmetic of the present parliament. The message calls for political clarity, respect for the vote, and decisions taken in the national interest.

Take a look at the polls to understand the reality we are in. Monday's discussions are about the future, not the past, even if the arithmetic is done on the seats of today's parliament.

What happens next

The president's consultations on Monday will bring together parliamentary parties to discuss the designation of a prime minister. Muraru's intervention signals that the PNL will enter those talks unwilling to entertain any governing formula that includes the PSD. The standoff raises the stakes for Nicușor Dan, who must navigate a fragmented legislature in which PNL-PSD hostility narrows the coalition options. Whether the president will attempt to broker a centre-right bloc or pursue a different route is expected to become clearer after Monday's round of discussions.