Prime Minister-designate and PNL First Deputy Chairman Adrian Vestea said on Friday that the party's Statute is being amended to allow 'a concentration of power' for Ilie Bolojan and to pave the way for his own exclusion, claiming Bolojan 'imagines that a PNL reshaped after a wave of expulsions could be used as an instrument against the President of Romania'.

'A hard day for PNL. The main value of liberalism is freedom. That is where our party's name comes from. All the more it saddens me that today, at the proposal of the party Chairman, freedom and, implicitly, democratic debate risk being wiped out from PNL. Instead of accepting an open confrontation of ideas and solutions, at a Congress next weekend (June 28), there is an attempt to hastily organize a Congress this Sunday, June 21. Everything rushed, without the time needed for real debate,' Vestea wrote on Facebook.

He said he fears that, by proceeding this way, 'the party risks losing its own identity'.

'Why? I see two objectives in this move, which I consider profoundly illiberal: 1. Concentrating unprecedented power in the hands of Mr Ilie Bolojan. Responsibility should be shared, not gathered in one place - something that has never happened in the party's history, neither post-communism nor before World War II. 2. Attempting to block the investiture of the government that President Nicusor Dan tasked me with forming. And this even though Mr Bolojan knows, as well as I do, that the current formula has already led to blockages in essential steps for successfully completing the NRRP, SAFE and OECD processes. Moreover, rating agencies are watching Romania's political instability - an instability we now have the chance to overcome,' Vestea argued.

According to the designated premier, the Statute changes are aimed at two people.

'A concentration of power for Mr Bolojan and - for me - an exclusion, because I accepted to be part of a solution to end a crisis that deeply affects Romanians. I believe Chairman Ilie Bolojan imagines that a PNL reshaped after a wave of exclusions could be used as an instrument against the President of Romania. I remind you that I proposed, as a vision for the National Liberal Party, an honest and fair political partnership with the head of the state,' Vestea also wrote.

He added that after 30 years in which he believed he had witnessed 'a lot' in PNL, he is now sad to see that 'things are heading in a profoundly wrong direction'.

'I hope it is only a passing misstep. As a liberal, I will fight to bring freedom back to the centre of PNL's values,' Vestea said.

PNL's Extraordinary National Council voted on Friday to hold an Extraordinary Congress on Sunday at 12:00 and approved Statute amendments that restructure the party leadership bodies, reduce the number of First Deputy Chairs, and create a National Disputes Commission.

Ilie Bolojan announced he will run for a new term as party leader; Vestea has also announced his candidacy. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Alina Novaceanu; EN - writing by: Simona Klodnischi)