Tariceanu: ALDE will continue to exist as a party, I'm not holding anyone by force

The chairman of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE), Calin Popescu-Tariceanu, claims that, despite the intention of some MPs to leave the party, ALDE will continue to exist and warns those who want to leave to PNL that they "will be fooled".

"I found out that there are some of our colleagues that are conducting negotiations, more or less hidden. I am not holding anyone by force. If the people feel they have no attachment to our values and principles, they will step out. This is what happens in all parties. Unfortunately, the phenomenon of parliamentary migration is very ample. But I don't believe it's a problem, a major loss. (...) There are all sorts of numbers to create waves. (...) ALDE will continue to exist as a party. We are three time as powerful in terms of organizations, from the point of view of structures, than we were in 2016. We will approach the local elections with optimism and determination and I believe that there will be no early elections, but on-term elections, so that on the basis of the results in the local elections we will be able to enter Parliament, as we have proved in 2016 when, just the same, there were discussions that ALDE will not enter Parliament, and yet we have proved we have this capacity," said Tariceanu, on Friday, to privately-owned online broadcaster and news outlet Libertatea.

He stated that some ALDE members would like to leave the party because "they depend exclusively on the position and wages of MP" and are "coldly, desperately looking for a certain spot as MP."

Referring to deputy Andrei Gerea who left ALDE on Wednesday, Tariceanu said that he "took from ALDE a great deal of advantages and gave very little, almost nothing."

ALDE deputy Ica Calota, chair of ALDE Teleorman, stated that approximately 12 deputies from the party will leave the party in a week. Deputy Andrei Gerea announced he was resigning ALDE to dedicate himself to the political project "Through our own strength", project that he would have wanted to develop, initially, with Calin Popescu Tariceanu.

"It's a right-wing political project," said Gerea for AGERPRES