National Liberal Party (PNL) leader Ilie Bolojan announced on Saturday that the Liberals would go into opposition and provide 'a necessary, conditional and one-off vote' in favour of the investiture of the Niculescu government.

'We concluded a meeting of the National Political Bureau of the National Liberal Party just a few minutes ago, at which we decided that the PNL would go into opposition and provide a necessary, conditional and one-off vote next week to secure the investiture of the prime minister designated by the president of Romania. Under normal circumstances, our party would not have given this vote, given the composition of this government. However, after a prolonged political crisis lasting more than five months, Romania needs a functioning government to prevent the collapse of certain institutions and essential public services in the coming period and to ensure that our country can continue to function,' Bolojan told a press conference.

He also said that officials holding positions with PNL backing would submit their resignations in the first days of next week and would no longer occupy posts held with the party's support.

'This agreement to provide support (...) is conditional. To that end, tomorrow afternoon I will sign an agreement with prime minister-designate Luca Niculescu, under which he will undertake to maintain the deficit targets Romania committed to under previous governments, so that we can continue accessing European funds, remain a safe country for investors, bring budgetary spending under control in the coming period and create the conditions for economic recovery and prosperity.

'This agreement will remain in force for a limited period, until after the adoption of the budget law, which is extremely important for Romania's credit rating, stability and a return to normality in the years ahead,' Bolojan said. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: AGERPRES; EN - writing by: Simona Iacob)

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