Dinu Patriciu was elected as honorific president of the National Liberal Party (PNL), a status that allows him to be part of the National Council of the political formation.
The National Council is the third steerage organism in the party, following the Political Bureau and the Permanent Delegation.
The businessman received the position after an unanimous vote of the Permanent Delegation of PNL from Prahova county. The proposal was issued by the chief of PNL Prahova, Adrian Semcu, who is known as a business partner of Patriciu.
Semcu explained that he was certain that Patriciu was willing to accept the position and to collaborate with PNL Prahova. Thus, Patriciu has became a member of the National Council of PNL, a structure who makes the proposals for the government program of the party.
The scandal that has surrounded Patriciu’s political career began after the 2004 elections, when the businessman admitted that he had financed both the liberal and the social democrats during the canvass. Furthermore, Patriciu always considered that the liberals should have an alliance with the social democrats.
These affirmations and the inquiries made by the Romanian authorities made some liberal leaders ask Patriciu to step down for a while, at least formally, By January 2007, Patriciu had resigned from the presidency of PNL Prahova, thus, loosing his membership in the Permanent Delegation of PNL.
Even so, his informal friendship with Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu maintained Patriciu as an influent voice in the liberal Party.