Liberal leader Orban: All pretext for tentative suspension of President Iohannis is now removed

Chairman of the National Liberal Party (PNL) Ludovic Orban said on Monday that all pretext for a tentative suspension of President Klaus Iohannis has now been removed. 

"Currently all possible pretext for such a suspension has been removed. If they persist in the headstrong attempt to temporarily conquer this democracy-defending redoubt represented by the President of Romania, we will definitely close ranks around the President and battle them to prevent them from conquering this redoubt," Orban said in Parliament. 

He added that all political assessments clearly showed that in the event of a referendum Klaus Iohannis would have claimed a landslide victory. 

"More than that, the President would have emerged considerably strengthened after such a referendum that would have placed him in pole position for the presidential elections. However, the President preferred to sacrifice his personal image and decide in such manner as to serve Romania's general interest. With only a few months to go until Romania's taking up the fundamental right of exercising the EU Presidency, we couldn't have afforded to enter a war with unforeseeable consequences that would have harmed Romania's image so severely that it would have taken us years to do some mending," Orban said.