USR to meet PNL, Orban on single candidates in Bucharest elections

National leader of the Save Romania Union (USR) Dan Barna announced on Friday that he will have a meeting this weekend with the national leader of the National Liberal Party (PNL) Ludovic Orban to discuss common candidates for Bucharest district mayoralties ahead of local elections this September.

Asked if Orban answered the phone, Barna said the dialogue had been resumed.

"Yes. Shortly after the informal meeting during the week, a few minutes later, the dialogue was resumed. We will have a meeting at the end of this week and I hope we will take the necessary steps forward for Bucharest, because, from our point of view, we are relatively close to finding a solution that enables us to stack behind the common candidate, Nicusor Dan, single candidates. It would be a valuable and necessary thing to Bucharest and, from that perspective, the next days are critical, I would say, to find such a solution. We are waiting for PNL to decide if they want to go along this path of common candidates or another possibility that may exist: each of us, the USR PLUS Alliance and the PNL filing their own candidates. All scenarios are on the table at the moment," Barna told the launch of the USR PLUS Alliance candidate Madalina Scurtu for the Otopeni City Hall.

The USR leader mentioned that next week, depending on the results of the dialogue with PNL, "some decisions will be made" on the Bucharest candidates in the local elections.

"It is very clear. The collection of signatures has started; it is very clear that we can no longer stand in uncertainty that is damaging and, from our point of view, discouraging for the electorate in Bucharest. That is also the position we will have for the talks at the end of the week. A decision must be made, whatever it may be, depending on the outcome of the meeting with PNL and Mr Orban. Obviously, some decisions will be made next week," Barna said.

He reiterated that in their talks, USR PLUS does not give up on the principle of the integrity of single candidates.

"We have been very clear from the first meeting we had with PNL. The conditions that USR PLUS set for the prospect of being able to align six people behind Nicusor Dan is for those people to be honest and competent. Those are the two fundamentally binding criteria. As long as we have candidates on the table with known integrity issues, we obviously won't be able to endorse such candidates. There's no discussion here. Otherwise, anything can be discussed, save the principle of integrity of the candidates, the principle that the candidates should not be reclaimed from the Social Democratic Party (PSD), as there are many instances in the country; it is a principle that we cannot negotiate," said the USR leader.