PNL's Orban: For me democracy is fundamental; Citu's statements - a joke

The chairman of the National Liberal Party (PNL), Ludovic Orban, stated, on Tuesday, regarding the statement made by Prime Minister Florin Citu regarding that the PNL has reached dictatorship, that this is "a joke" and emphasized that for him, democracy is fundamental. "It's a joke. For me, democracy is fundamental, both in society and in the party. I believe that in few periods was the PNL more democratic than in the period in which I led the party. The best proof is that they can express themselves this way and nobody suffers. Even though I was a punching bag for many of my colleagues I moved on and led the party further," said Orban, at the PNL's headquarters. Prime Minister Florin Citu, candidate for the chairmanship of the National Liberal Party, stated, on Monday, that in the PNL one is "afraid to have a choice", and that is "dictatorship." He made the statements at the Election Conference of the PNL's Bucharest District 2 branch, where he supported former Education Minister Monica Anisie as chair of the organization. "Monica, it's my turn to support you. You supported me from the first moment I announced my candidacy and I would like, with your permission, to tell people what you went through then, because you were afraid to come to the picture, to come near me, you were afraid of repercussions. This is where we ended up in the National Liberal Party - to be afraid to have a choice, your own choice. This isn't liberalism, this is dictatorship," said Citu to the former Education Minister. AGERPRES (RO - author: Florentina Peia, editor: Georgiana Tanasescu; EN - author: Razvan-Adrian Pandea, editor: Simona Iacob)