Liberal branch in Bucharest sees board dismissed

Luni, 23 iunie 2008, 8:38 English | Politics

Ludovic Orban is no longer the president of the National Liberal Party (PNL) branch in Bucharest, after the Liberal leaders analyzed the local elections results in their Political Bureau session on Sunday. Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu also decided to dismiss the boards for the local branches in four Bucharest districts. The Prime Minister will act as interim head of the Bucharest branch.

Calin Popescu Tariceanu explained that there was no competition or rivalry between Ludovic Orban and himself, and that the decision comes as a consequence of the poor results in the local elections. Other six local organizations of the party may soon be forced to resign, in the counties of Dambovita, Neamt, Suceava, Sibiu, Arad and Timis, where Liberals obtained less than 15% of the votes.

Orban explained that his defeat was caused by the political context, not by a poor electoral campaign. "I don't resign because I don't see the Liberals' result as a failure", said Orban before the meeting. After the meeting, he admitted that he made “a small step back” for the sake of the “Liberal harmony”.