PM Dancila says former party leader Dragnea asked her not to relinquish rule, no matter what

Premier Viorica Dancila said on Tuesday evening that, after seeing the Social Democratic Party's (PSD) poor results in the European Parliament elections, former party leader Liviu Dragnea had asked her not to relinquish rule, because the PSD must carry out its promises to the Romanians. 

"We had a discussion right on the evening when the election results were announced, we went to the party's headquarters in Baneasa, together with several ministers, to wait for the results. We were there when the first exit polls were released and when we learned we had done poorly in the EP election. (...) I discussed on the same evening with Mr. Dragnea, and he told me that no matter what happens, we should not give up governing, because we made certain promises to the Romanians and need to fulfill them. We cannot give up, because this would mean that we would be surrendering, not in front of the Romanians, but to those who actually don't want us at rule, who don't come up with solutions but just with dirt and accusations against the government," Viorica Dancila told broadcaster Romania TV. 

In her opinion, the party's losing in the elections to the European Parliament, followed shortly by Liviu Dragnea's conviction, were the most difficult moments for the PSD. 

"We didn't expect what happened the next day, this is why it wasn't an easy situation for the party. The results in the elections to the European Parliament on Sunday evening, and the arrest of the party's chairman the next day - I think this was a critical moment for the Social Democratic Party. (...) That's why I thought it was important to bring the party together, that it is important that I, in my capacity as Prime Minister and executive chairperson, should gather all the local party organization heads for us to take a decision on what to do in the short term, on how to overcome this moment and on the measures we have to take. We weren't allowed to let the party go drifting, we weren't allowed to hesitate a moment. This was a difficult moment, perhaps the most difficult ever for the Social Democratic Party, but this party has a great quality: it gets united in hard times. When it passes through difficult moments, they all close ranks around the party and this is also what happened now, and I hope that we will have the wisdom and power, that we will have the determination to take major steps and return to the Social Democratic Party's good previous scores," Viorica Dancila said.