Romanian deputies Raluca Turcan and Cristian Boureanu, two of the youngest members of the governing National Liberal Party-PNL, have been expelled from the group, it was announced last weekend. The two have been a target for possible expulsion following differences of opinion with the leadership of the party, which they have criticized repeatedly.

The two said they did not regret the expulsion, which they called “anti-Liberal”.

They had been sanctioned with a public warning in July this year and lost the political support of the group in early autumn due to their criticism of a series of Liberal decisions, including moves to contain a group of senior members who took stand against the party leadership.

The PNL leaders also decided to sanction Liberal businessman Dinu Patriciu, the head of the Rompetrol oil group, with a public warning this weekend following reports that he had sponsored the then-in-power PSD party in the 2004 electoral campaign, eventually won by an alliance of Liberals and Democrats.