A group of high-profile members of the main opposition group in Romania, the Social Democratic Party (PSD), were summoned by their House group leader at an ad-hoc meeting in Bucharest on Tuesday evening to discuss the wave of resignations that threatens the party.
The event sparked a series of rumors in the media today that a large number of PSD members would follow their former leader Adrian Nastase, who allegedly plans to resign from the group on Thursday.
According to PSD sources quoted by newspapers today, Nastase is most likely to join the Conservative Party, a junior member of the current governing coalition, which has been at loggerheads with the Liberal-Democratic D.A. alliance that forms the bulk of the current government.
On leaving the meeting on Tuesday evening, the leader of the PSD group in the House of Deputies, Viorel Hrebenciuc, dismissed claims that the party faced a major crisis and rejected rumors of a wave of resignations.
But he admitted the main topic of the talks was the need to strengthen the unity of the party following a recent inner upheaval against PSD president Mircea Geoana, sparked by Adrian Nastase’s removal as executive president of the group and as speaker of the House.
Ex-prime minister Nastase was forced to resign from the two positions following a wave of accusations and judicial investigations against him on graft charges.
