A senior member of Romania’s ruling Social Democratic Party (PSD) has called on the party’s leader Liviu Dragnea to resign. 

This is the first attack on Dragnea from within the party, which has been widely criticised by the president and the opposition for the way it governs the country. More criticism was directed at the government after the violent incidents reported at an antigovernment rally held in Bucharest on August 10, at which the gendarmerie brutally intervened to disperse the crowd.

Dragnea was asked to step down by former Romanian education minister and leader of the Bucharest branch of the ruling Social Democratic Party (PSD), Ecaterina Andronescu, on August 14, Hotnews.ro reported. Andronescu also asked for a change of government; the current prime minister, Viorica Dancila, is a close ally of Dragnea. 

“What is happening now within the PSD and in the country is not all right, it has gone ... too far,“ Andronescu said in an open letter.

“For the sake of Romania and the PSD, the president of the party has to take a step backwards, to show responsibility and maturity and to prove courage and political dignity and withdraw from the party’s leadership. There are enough reasons, we all know them and I will not expose them now. If these things do not happen, we will lose the government, and the party will go to disaster, and instead of a PSD government of professionals we could have, we will find ourselves again with an amateur government, as we have previously had,” Andronescu wrote.

She also suggested that the current government should be replaced by a new, professional one.

Andronescu is not the only PSD member to criticise the leadership of the party. PSD MEP Catalin Ivan said he will ask the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament to exclude PSD from the group, Medifax news agency reported. “ I will submit to the group’s leadership a complete file with the actions of this criminal group acting to defend the corrupt,” Ivan said.

The ruling coalition made up of PSD and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (Alde) has been widely criticised, by the Romanian president, magistrates, opposition parties and Romania’s international partners for its drive to change justice and criminal legislation.

The PSD party leader has been often indicated as one of the beneficiaries of the new legislation. Dragnea has received a two-year suspended sentence for voter manipulation. Recently he was also sentenced by a first court to three and a half years imprisonment for instigation to abuse of office.

Andronescu’s criticism may encourage others in the party to rise against the powerful leader. However, previous attempts were harshly punished by the party, with critics being expelled. Former speaker of the chamber of deputies Valeriu Zgonea was expelled from the party in 2016 following his suggestion that Dragnea should resign after he received a two-year suspended prison sentence. In addition, former PSD leader and ex-prime minister Victor Ponta had to leave the party after he repeatedly criticised Dragnea. More recently, the mayor of Iasi, Mihai Chirica, was excluded from the party after criticising Dragnea.