PNL's Orban: If I lose PNL elections, I will quit as Speaker of Chamber of Deputies

The chairman of the National Liberal Party (PNL), Ludovic Orban, said on Monday, for private TV broadcaster Digi24, that if he is to lose the internal elections in the party, he will resign as Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies. He believes that, if Florin Citu is the one to lose, he will have to give up his position as Prime Minister, as he would no longer have the legitimacy and authority to exercise this position. "This is a matter of honor. I, if I lose the election, will write my resignation as Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies before September 25. This is a matter of democratic legitimacy. If a Prime Minister who is running for chairman of the PNL, what authority and what legitimacy does he have to exert the said position given that the party does not support him anymore? Who will listen to him? No, I will tell you honestly that this is a matter of legitimacy in a democracy: a person, in order to exercise a position of such importance in the state, must have legitimacy, must have an authority, which is built. Well, if you lose within your own party that supported you for the position of Prime Minister...", Orban said. Orban stated that he has a few discontents with the Citu Government, among them the fact that Romania is not among the first 16 countries in the European Union to have their national plan for recovery and resilience approved, that the absorption of European funds is below that of last year, but also that the number of persons vaccinating against COVID-19 is not the forecast one. In what regards the support of the county branches for the two candidates for the position of chairman of the PNL, Orban said that the Prime Minister is supported by 25 chairs of county organizations, but that the votes of the delegates will not necessarily be influenced by the options of local leaders, but by the analysis of competencies for each candidate.AGERPRES(RO - author: Tina Dumitrescu, editor: Antonia Nita; EN - author: Razvan-Adrian Pandea, editor: Maria Voican)