The National Liberal Party-PNL do not support a simple motion against Justice minister Monica Macovei tabled by the Conservative Party-PC in the Senate and Macovei should not regisn if the motion passes PM Calin Popescu Tariceanu, the PNL president, said during a TV talk-show on Sunday.

The motion was tabled to the permanent board of the Senate last week and is due to be debated on Tuesday afternoon.

Its signatories - MPs representing the PC and the opposition Social Democrats (PSD) and the Greater Romania Party (PRM) - call for Macovei’s resignation because she allegedly failed to present “a minimal coherent, realistic program to at least suggest a fundamental idea about the reform of the Justice system” in Romania.

Macovei has the support of President Basescu and his followers in the Democratic Party, who share the government with Tariceanu’s Liberals. She also has the full support of many members of the European Commission, who have hailed her efforts to reform the Justice system in Romania.

But Tariceanu’s statements are the first to suggest the Liberals would support Macovei against the motion, since PNL joined the opposition over the past several weeks in approving legislative moves aimed at bringing down President Traian Basescu, Tariceanu’s arch-rival, in a referendum.