Romanian Parties prepare their candidates for the EP election

Former Romanian Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos is top of the list of candidates his party PLUS for the European Parliament election, jointly with the Save Romania Union

Ştefan Stoica, 04.02.2019, 15:10

The Save Romania Union, the third-largest parliamentary party, currently in opposition, has formed an alliance with the Liberty, Unity and Solidarity Party — PLUS, founded by former Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos. At the end of last week, the two parties decided to submit commonly selected candidates for the European Parliament election due in May.

Dubbed the 2020 Alliance, it is meant to bring Romania back in Europe and provide the alternative Romania has been waiting for, the option awaited by decent, professional and honest people, a party they can vote for responsibly and purposefully, Save Romania Union leader Dan Barna said.

The Romanian official expressed hope the common list of candidates is the best ever submitted by Romania to the European Parliament election. Top of the list is Dacian Ciolos, a former European Commissioner for Agriculture, who is seeking his first term in office. Ciolos welcomed the many young people who appear on the list and who might be part of the staff of the Save Romania Union and PLUS MEPs.

Cristian Ghinea from the Save Romania Union and Dragos Pislaru from PLUS are next on the list, followed by Clotilde Armand of Save Romania Union, who was very close to winning the seat of mayor for the Bucharest District 1 tenure. The founders of the Save Romania Union — PLUS Alliance want to capitalize on their potential success in the European Parliament election and use it as a springboard for the Romanian Parliament election due in 2020.

In turn, the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania has designated its candidates for the European Parliament election, while the party’s permanent council is expected to decide on the specific order of candidates in early March. At the upcoming party congress in February, the Union will debate each candidate, present the top points on the Union’s election agenda and launch the signature-raising campaign to support the candidates.

The main right-wing opposition party, the National Liberal Party, is yet to finalize its list of candidates. Liberal leader Ludovic Orban says he is counting on some 12 eligible seats. In his opinion, his party is the only one capable to influence European decision-making to favor Romania’s interest, given that the Liberal Party is currently part of the strongest European Parliamentary faction right now, the European People’s Party (EPP).

The Social-Democratic Party, the number one party in the ruling coalition, is also expected to decide on its candidates. Social-Democrat strongman Liviu Dragnea is currently busy dealing with the wave of discontent triggered by the 2019 draft budget and the shrinking of his party ranks. A lot of Social-Democrat members have left the party and signed up for the PRO Romania party, led by former Prime Minister Victor Ponta, which could significantly weaken the Social-Democrats’ majority in Parliament.