The National Liberal Party (PNL) Extraordinary Congress was convened in a crisis situation, Liberal leader Ilie Bolojan said on Sunday while presenting his candidacy for a new mandate at the helm of the party, mentioning that he did not want the Congress, but that the situation made it necessary.

'The Extraordinary Congress was convened in a crisis situation, we did not want it, but the crisis situation required it,' Bolojan said.

'Why have we gathered, dear colleagues, at this Extraordinary Congress? We must answer this question. We have gathered because our party must decide today who it is and what it wants to be, we must clarify the direction we want to take in the coming years and decide what our vision is for Romania,' Bolojan said.

He added that the National Liberal Party has 'every reason' not to be ashamed of what it has achieved in this Government.

'We took on Romania's recovery at a critical moment and those who know how large deficits are resolved know that nowhere in the world, where such situations have occurred, is recovery achieved without inevitable social costs, which also implies political costs for those who are in the forefront and implement those measures, but we assumed this responsibility, we did not run away from it, we also had a moral obligation because we also bore a small part of the blame for the situation Romania reached. We should not run away from this. If I were to compare Romania's budget situation with a patient, last summer we took over a budget in a coma and we left a patient in a state of recovery, in a recovery process. It is true, the treatment was not easy, it was sometimes painful, I understand the anger of many people and I am grateful for their patience,' Bolojan also said. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Alina Novaceanu; EN - writing by: Rodica State)