“Both the party’s president and the National Standing Bureau have decided to resign, opening the door to structures that will validate the new leadership of the Liberal Democratic Party.”

Emil Boc, also the former PM of Romania, continues to support the austerity measures that diminished the party’s popularity, but which he says were beneficial and correct. He claims that it was these measures that got Romania out of the economic crisis. It was a tough price to pay. In less than two months, the Liberal Democratic Party went from having it all – a Prime Minister, a President of the Senate and a President of the Chamber of Deputies – to a mere 15 percent in the local elections, and similar predictions for the upcoming parliamentary elections.

According to the Liberal Democrats, a change in party leadership will create an opportunity for the formation of a center-right pole. This pole, they believe, should bring together all those citizens who were disappointed with the party’s previous course of action and who wish to rebuild the right wing. One of the supporters of this idea is Liberal Democrat Gheorghe Falca:

“I believe Romania needs a center-right movement. The party’s leadership did the right thing by stepping down, therefore opening the door for a center-right movement to counterbalance the existing center-left movement.”

Falca referred to the Social Liberal Union, the big winner in the local elections. While the leading body of the Liberal Democratic Party accepted its failure in the recent elections, some party members decided to switch allegiance. The case of Senator Sorina Placinta, who switched from the Liberal Democrats to the Liberals, is believed to be only the beginning after the June 10th elections. More MPs are expected to defect from the Liberal Democratic Party. It remains to be seen whether or not the party will be able to reinvent itself and make a convincing stand in the parliamentary elections. For the time being, it is recovering from shock.