PSD's Dragnea calls August 10 street protest failed coup d'etat attempt

National leader of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) Liviu Dragnea has called the August 10 street protests in Bucharest's Piata Victoriei, which he watched on TV, "a coup d'etat attempt" to topple government "through violence".

"I saw a coup d'etat attempt that failed, that's what I saw, and that's what it was attempted. That was what they would be talking on the social media (...) That was they were talking about; a lot of the words of some would reach me that this would no longer be about justice legislation, as that was a thing of the past: there will be an uprising for us to topple the government and take over the power. And it became visible; that is what Iohannis did with that message, that post on Facebook, irresponsible on the part of a head of state to discourage gendarmes who had acted in accordance with their law, their regulations, much weaker than the gendarmes and law enforcement officers in other EU countries or the US act, and you continue to incite violence, precisely in the moments when that gendarme girl had was as good as lynched there by some brutes; were all those who were punching and kicking that girl humans? Were the protesters peaceful? Was that an instance of unjustifiably strong intervention by the gendarmerie? Everything that Orban, Gorghiu and others from PNL [National Liberal Party] and USR [Save Romania Union] started to shout after fact - let the gendarmes be investigated! - nobody said a thing about the fact that they had set fire. It was seen on television (...) What was there was a well-organised paramilitary organisation. That is what I saw, and I'm convinced that is what it was: a coup d'etat attempt to topple the government through violence, to bring to fruition the desire of [president] Iohannis," Dragnea told Antena 3 private broadcaster on Tuesday evening.

He said that he spoke on the phone on the night of August 10 with Prime Minister Viorica Dancila and with national leader of PSD's junior coalition partner Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE) Calin Popescu-Tariceanu, but not with the interior minister.

"Yes I did, and surely we talked about what was happening, she was watching on her tablet, I understood she was watching Antena 3. We did not speak with the interior minister, because the minister had some very clear powers in this type of events and I could not interfere. She did not call me, and neither did I call her," Dragnea said.

He claimed that the August 10 protest was attended by only 1,000 Romanian expats.

"The diaspora rally was a lie. There were 1,000 plus people from the diaspora. I do not know, the one who filed for authoristaion claiming to be the organiser immediately gave up for fear when he realised what was really happening and what was going to happen there," added Dragnea.