PSD opposes sale of profitable state companies amid government talks

The Social Democratic Party (PSD) is in 'complete' disagreement with the idea of selling shares in profitable state-owned companies, party spokesperson Florin Manole said on Monday, noting that this issue is one of the sticking points in negotiations on government measures.Manole specified in Parliament that all options are still on the table and that the Social Democrats have not yet decided whether or not to join the government.Asked when the PSD will decide whether or not to join the government, Manole replied: 'The decision will be made following an internal referendum that we will hold after the technical negotiations have been completed and when the political negotiations begin, in accordance with the Constitution, with convocations at Cotroceni and the entire procedure.' "The referendum was announced a few weeks ago, but our announcement has always been that we will hold the referendum when we have enough information to inform the members of the Social Democratic Party, that is, when we have enough conclusions to make an informed decision," Manole added.When asked whether the government rotation is a condition without which PSD will not enter the government, he mentioned that 'all options are on the table.'"None of them are more special than the others, so to speak. What are the obstacles? There are several obstacles. One of them is the idea, with which we completely disagree, of selling shares in profitable state-owned companies. On the one hand, this is unnecessary because, as I said, those companies are profitable, so this is a positive thing. Secondly, some of them are in areas such as energy and represent legitimate instruments through which the state can intervene in such an important area in terms of social impact. This is a measure with which we disagree. We have said repeatedly and continue to maintain that all budgetary measures, all those that need to be taken now, in addition to those relating to cutting state spending, must protect or not affect low- and middle-income citizens in this country because, as I have said before, an increase in VAT would affect them first and foremost," explained Florin Manole. According to him, there are currently no political negotiations taking place, only technical discussions, which, 'unfortunately,' have been prolonged."This morning, we all saw that, three weeks after the start of the public dialogue on a possible government programme, the president invited the trade unions to the dialogue. If you remember, the employers' confederations had a dialogue at the beginning of this procedure. We said from the outset that any government agreement must be accompanied by a tripartite agreement with trade unions and employers at the table. We have seen that the same idea seems to be taking shape on the part of the Presidency. We could have moved forward with this much earlier," said the PSD spokesperson. The Social Democratic Party has not yet decided whether or not to join the government, he said. "The consultation on measures was initiated by the Romanian Presidency. We participated in these consultations and respected the proposal to have this procedure. We did not initiate this procedure, we did not set this timetable. We have always been constructive. The Constitution, not PSD, dictates the procedure. The fact that there are negotiations beforehand on measures that have such a significant social impact seems normal to me," Manole said. In his opinion, the idea of a technocratic prime minister is 'unworkable'. "We have had a bad experience with a technocratic prime minister before, and this government will have to be politically accountable in a fair and transparent manner, because people voted for parties in Parliament, not technocrats," Florin Manole pointed out. Regarding the fact that the interim government's mandate expires in four days, he said he did not want to anticipate what would happen. "The president has all the constitutional tools, and the parties are communicating with each other," said the PSD spokesperson. AGERPRES

PSD opposes sale of profitable state companies amid government talks

CITEȘTE ȘI / PE ACEEAȘI TEMĂ