The Iași county bureau of the National Liberal Party (PNL) announced on Saturday, 17 October 2026, that it will not support the investiture of Luca Niculescu’s government. The decision was unanimous and came before the party’s National Political Bureau set how MPs would vote. The county branch does not speak for the whole PNL.

In its statement, the Iași liberals reject a formula they describe as “controlled and majority-dominated” by the Social Democratic Party (PSD). They argue Romania cannot exit the political crisis through a government dependent on the Social Democrats, whom they hold largely responsible for recent blockages. Those are party positions, not findings of a court or of Parliament.

PNL Iași chair Alexandru Muraru, a national vice-president, said the decision was firm: they do not support investing a government dependent on PSD. PNL, he said, cannot be used to legitimise such a formula and must remain, in his wording, a party of reforms, not “a parliamentary annex of PSD”.

The branch also criticises the proposed cabinet. The statement cites a person with a criminal conviction at an important portfolio without naming them; Mediafax links that criticism to Marian Neacșu’s proposed Interior post, described that way by another PNL MP. PNL Iași also criticises Florin Manole (Labour), Daniel Zamfir (Economy) and Alexandru Rogobete (Health), over pay reform, political rhetoric and hospital-infrastructure delays, including Iași’s regional cardiovascular institute. These are political allegations, not court rulings.

On Luca Niculescu, the Iași liberals say they do not dispute his record in journalism and diplomacy. Their argument is different: without a party or an independent parliamentary base, the designated prime minister could not control PSD-backed ministers, and an agreement with him would be, in the branch’s words, “a blank cheque”.

Although the branch says it still supports the direction represented by Ilie Bolojan, it opposes the investiture vote the PNL president said he would ask the national bureau to take — a vote of “responsibility and necessity”, without PNL entering government. The national leadership meeting was scheduled for Saturday at 13:00. Parliament’s investiture vote is set for Tuesday, 20 October; Liberal votes are widely seen as essential for the cabinet to pass.

As an alternative, PNL Iași calls for a credible reformist majority or, failing that, early elections. Iași mayor Mihai Chirica criticised the decision on Facebook, accusing Muraru of blocking the country’s stabilisation. A county statement does not, by itself, decide PNL’s national vote.

Image: Ionel Pomana, Palace of Culture, Iași, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons; archive city landmark, not a photograph of the 17 October 2026 PNL Iași meeting.

Sources consulted: PNL Iaşi nu va susţine învestirea guvernului Niculescu-PSD. Reacție dură a lui Mihai Chirica — Digi24; PNL Iași spune „nu” Guvernului Niculescu. Bolojan cere vot pentru învestire, liberalii ieșeni cer alegeri anticipate — Mediafax.