Liberal deputy Raluca Turcan resigned yesterday from the Permanent Committee of the PNL (National Liberal Party), claiming she no longer wanted to take part in party activities. She described the political style of Tariceanu and company as causing "bankruptcy". Turcan highlighted the PNL was actually continuing "Communist-like practices". The deputy commented: "Such practices consist in political threats, decisions reached for revenge and political cleaning unfit for a party claiming to be aimed at winning future elections." She said the PNL president Calin Popescu Tariceanu and the president of the Chamber of Deputies Bogdan Olteanu were the two leaders arranging such cleaning. Turcan commented more: "Right now the PNL strategy is not focussed on using positive energies, but on domestic control, threats and double standards. Otherwise I can't imagine why the PNL is sacrificing people who worked for this party and contributed a lot to the election victory of the "Truth and Justice" Alliance, people who are right now being judged by double standards and by the moral sense as pretext." Without naming people, the deputy commented many Liberal leaders were immoral: " We are pretending to be the protectors of moral sense today, whereas many of those who reach decisions are immoral, they were informers or officers of the Securitate (Communist Secret Service in Romania), they signed agreement with the Securitate. " She unveiled that the withdrawal of PNL support for her possible position as president of deputies' commission for culture had been preceded by "political pressure." She concluded: "Very many colleagues have told me they got phone calls and were told to do this. They even use threats regarding the access to governmental programmes. This is very serious, because the PNL is making the same mistake of the Social-Democrat Party, mistaking them as party for the state." Ghise accuses Olteanu Deputy Ioan Ghise, who has just been expelled from the PNL (National Liberal Party) because of having signed agreement with the ex Securitate (Communist Secret Service in Romania), accused Bogdan Olteanu, the Liberal president of the Chamber of Deputies, of having put pressure on him so that he would resign. Ghise used a phrase like "Liberal Jihad" to describe the Liberals' habit of expelling colleagues. Ghise mentioned his conversation with Olteanu: "He asked me to resign so that the party's image would stay clean. I sais <I won't, you do it instead!>" Ghise explained the Liberals had known about his agreement with the ex Securitate since 2000, but still supported him in elections to become mayor of Brasov. Later on, in 2004, the party supported him for a deputy mandate, Ghise added. As he thought he had been thrown from the PNL just like a "rotten tooth" after 15 years of working, Ghise expressed his dissatisfaction with and critique of the Liberal leaders' mistakes. He claimed the Liberals were promoted depending on their obedience and mentioned this worked for many young Liberals, hinting at Bogdan Olteanu. (...) Ghise commented there were many unskilled youngsters who had become MPs right after graduation. Olteanu pretends not to know about it Bogdan Olteanu, also a head of the PNL Honorary Committee for Arbitrage, replied he would stay away from the debate on Ghise's appeal against Liberals' decision to expel him in order to prevent "all suspicion". He admitted that before Ghise was expelled he had suggested the latter should resign. Olteanu claimed there had been no tension during their phone conversation, although Ghise said Olteanu had "yelled at him". As for the young Liberals, Olteanu stood by them, commenting it was immoral that an agent of the ex Securitate should bring such offence to clean people now in the government or heading public institutions. (...)

Raluca PAPADOPOL