Barna: There's no way I can be happy with coalition's governing manner; many goals still unaccomplished

Deputy Prime Minister and USR PLUS Co-Chairman Dan Barna said today that he is not happy with the ruling coalition's governing manner, as many of the goals set at the beginning of the term have not been accomplished; he also remarked that a great part of these goals "have been somewhat conditioned on the clarification of the National Liberal Party's leadership". Barna admitted that things work with more difficulty in a three-party coalition. "This is about accepting that in a three-party coalition things work with more difficulty than in a coalition of two, and harder than in a single-party government. (...) The moment you have a three-speed system, the resultant is the median, that's the reality; this will cost us electorally. I don't think that when the election result was known, anyone imagined that with a three-party coalition - one of them conservative, another with a medium desire to make reforms and another reformist party, reform will run full throttle in Romania. People have understood very well where we stand, there's a certain pace, we are fighting, we are taking the public agenda in Parliament and in the government, some things happen at a slower pace, others just happen, that's the reality of Romania. (...) My fellow ministers are struggling and doing their best to find competent people and not just appoint party members in office and are taking heat for this from the coalition partners, that's what it's all about. The Romanians' expectation for a good governance without getting involved is to no avail. Let those who want good governance join the parties and get involved and then we'll have a chance for good governance, otherwise we'll just fight an attrition battle, as I and my colleagues from USR PLUS do," Barna told public broadcaster TVR1. Answering a question, the USR PLUS leader said he would refrain from speculating on the ongoing campaign for the PNL leadership. "It's an entertaining, fun show to watch. Many people had bet that this would happen also at the USR PLUS internal election, but this is not so. We held elections in all local branches, we have the new steering bureaus in place, things unfolded in a civilized, disciplined manner. With very few exceptions, everything has gone very well, and I thank my colleagues for having proven that while being in the opposition we have learned what a mature, responsible and serious party that doesn't mix things up means. Our congress will be a week after that of PNL, on October 2-3," Dan Barna said. Asked if he is happy with how the coalition fares at governing, Barna replied: "There is no way I can be satisfied, it would be totally out of place to say I am beaming with satisfaction." "I am not satisfied because many of the goals we had set ourselves at the beginning of this term did not materialize, as a considerable part thereof are somehow conditioned by the clarification of the PNL leadership; it's an electoral period, we understand this, it's a reality and in the end we work with realities and I hope that in autumn we will come up with some of the things that are now on the fence, they have passed the government, they are in Parliament, but must become a reality because the citizens' expectations are really high," he said. Regarding the possibility of a government reshuffle, the Deputy Prime Minister said that the subject has not been raised at this time. Asked if he has a favorite for PNL leader, Barna said: "I do have a favorite. My favorite is the one of the two photos who will reap the broadest support in the PNL. The one who gets PNL's support will also have the support of the coalition." AGERPRES (RO - author: Alina Novaceanu, editor: Florin Marin; EN - editor: Simona Klodnischi)