Prime Minister Florin Citu said on Wednesday that he has "never" considered resigning from office, reiterating that he is not "irresponsible" to leave Romania without a government with winter approaching.

The head of the Executive was asked if it would be a solution for him, to solve the current political crisis, to stand down from the Government's helm.

"Never. I am not an irresponsible person. To plunge Romania into chaos, to leave Romania without a Government on the eve of winter, when we already have, as you see, so many problems - the fourth wave (of the COVID-19 pandemic), we have the energy price, the discussion on the minimum wage will follow, the budget for next year. To plunge Romania into chaos - I am not irresponsible, I will not do this. I see the Dragnea method being adopted by other colleagues, but it will never be adopted by me," premier Citu told a press conference at Victoria Palace of Government.

Asked if, in his opinion, a one-on-one discussion with the head of state is necessary, as the PNL leader, Ludovic Orban, stated, the prime minister replied: "The president decides if he wants to have a discussion and with whom to have a discussion".

"I said and, you see, every time the solution was a very simple one: a Minister of Justice as soon as possible, who does his job and does not obstruct the government act. That was not the solution. Very well. There was another solution to withdraw the motion. This did not happen either. We will see, after that, what the solutions on the table are in the future," said Florin Citu.

National Liberal Party (PNL) leader Ludovic Orban said on Wednesday that President Klaus Iohannis can solve the political crisis today, with all the tools at his disposal and the constitutional obligation to get involved. AGERPRES (RO - author: Daniel Florea, editor: Claudia Stanescu; EN - author: Simona Iacob, editor: Razvan-Adrian Pandea)