USR PLUS Alliance, joint candidates in local elections

The Save Romania Union - Freedom, Unity and Solidarity Party (USR PLUS) Alliance will have joint candidates in the local elections, with each party to nominate persons for the positions in the Executive Committee, and those nominated will pass through a validation mechanism, said, on Monday, representatives of the Alliance, Ionut Mosteanu and Vlad Voiculescu, in a joint press conference.

In Bucharest, the competition is between Vlad Voiculescu, on behalf of PLUS, and Nicusor Dan, an independent supported by the USR.

"We have established in the joint national bureaus of the Alliance something that was unclear until now, namely that the Alliance will have joint candidates everywhere in the country. We are discussing now about this process and this calendar. Soon, most probably in a week or two, we will have an exact calendar and a process to designate joint candidates - from Bucharest to every locality in the country. The local elections are essential. This country was kept prisoner by politicians of the old guard through local elected officials by blackmailing those Romanians most vulnerable, people who are called by force by a certain party for a few lei or through a blackmail relating to social aid or another that was conditioned by a certain political activity - be it a protest or a vote. We must get to a point in Romania where votes can't be bought, or obtained through blackmail. For this we need dignified local elected officials, who represent as many people as possible. That is why we need elections in two rounds," said Vlad Voiculescu.

The USR PLUS will later on negotiate with the other "anti-PSD [Social Democratic Party]" political forces to designate a potential joint candidate of the parties that voted the censure motion against the PSD.