Adrian Veștea attacks Ilie Bolojan’s proposed PNL leadership team: “The party’s entire history and identity are being thrown away”

With the PNL’s extraordinary congress one day away, Adrian Veștea launched an unprecedented attack on Ilie Bolojan and the team proposed to lead Romania’s National Liberal Party. Veștea said Sunday’s gathering would effectively remove the “true liberals” from the party leadership and warned that PNL risked becoming “USR’s keychain.”

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Sadly and predictably, the congress called for tomorrow, Sunday, June 21, by PNL President Ilie Bolojan actually means the removal of all true liberals from the leadership of our political formation. In practice, the party’s entire history and identity are being thrown away.

In a Facebook post published Saturday evening, Veștea argued that Bolojan’s proposed structure almost completely ignores leaders who won elections and brought votes to the party in recent years. “Sadly and predictably, the congress called for tomorrow, Sunday, June 21, by PNL President Ilie Bolojan actually means the removal of all true liberals from the leadership of our political formation. In practice, the party’s entire history and identity are being thrown away,” he wrote.

Veștea highlighted the contrast between the party’s local electoral strength and the proposed leadership team. PNL has 12 county council presidents, 1,150 mayors and nearly 10,000 local elected officials, he said, yet only Reșița Mayor Ioan Popa appears on Bolojan’s list. “It is unacceptable that almost all the people in the party leadership who were electorally validated, who brought votes to PNL, are being pushed aside for newcomers and opportunists,” Veștea said.

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It is unacceptable that almost all the people in the party leadership who were electorally validated, who brought votes to PNL, are being pushed aside for newcomers and opportunists.

He also criticized the inclusion of Oana Gheorghiu and Dragoș Pîslaru, whom he described as recent recruits. “In return, two people who literally joined the party yesterday, one of whom has already passed through three other political formations, all progressive, are becoming part of the narrowest leadership in the party’s recent history,” he said. Veștea claimed that long-serving members were being marginalized and could no longer express their views inside the party.

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In return, two people who literally joined the party yesterday, one of whom has already passed through three other political formations, all progressive, are becoming part of the narrowest leadership in the party’s recent history.

Veștea further accused Bolojan of seeking to build a platform for a possible presidential campaign in 2030. He alleged attacks on Romania’s president, the judiciary and Parliament, and claimed that an “army of bots” was influencing public debate around the party. He also reaffirmed his intention to lead the future government and ended with a message of encouragement, though the supplied text cuts off before that message is completed.

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As a result, very soon, literally and figuratively, if nothing changes, PNL will become USR’s keychain.