End in sight for political crisis in Bucharest

The two major parties forming the government coalition in Bucharest renewed their signs on Monday that they were ready to overcome the political crisis they’ve been facing for about a week.

Both the Liberal Party-PNL and the Democratic Party-PD said they were in favor of maintaining the protocol of their alliance despite the scandal that put Liberal leader Calin Popescu Tariceanu, the prime minister, and President Traian Basescu, PD’s informal leader.

PD head Emil Boc said today that his party had no reason to leave the government at this point in time but would not stick to power at any price. He said the protocol at the basis of the alliance with the Liberals was a contract with the voters and electoral promises should be fulfilled.

He said, however, that Liberal PM Tariceanu made a mistake when he sent President Basescu a controversial note that raised the possibility that the President intervened in favor of an oil mogul facing troubles with the law. The latest scandal was sparked when Basescu made the note public last week.

For their part, PNL deputy president Ludovic Orban said his party would remain in line with the coalition protocol with the Democrats and called on the PD to overcome the crisis and participate on common lists in the next national and European Parliament elections.