ALDE's Tariceanu: I would have liked local elections to kick-start USL 2024

National chairman of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE) Calin Popescu-Tariceanu said on Thursday that he would have liked the local elections "to kick-start a larger political project, a USL [former political alliance Social Liberal Union - ed.n.] 2024", and his own candidacy for the office of Bucharest general mayor is justified by the fact that the representation his party would have obtained after negotiations with the Social Democratic Party (PSD) would not have been "sufficient".

"I can honestly tell you that I would have liked the local elections to kick-start a larger political project, a long-range USL 2024, which should have started with the local elections and continue with this year's parliamentary ones and have 2024 as an end point. Unfortunately, certain decisions that have been made have made this project unfeasible. Practically, each party wants to get the best possible result," Tariceanu explained in the press conference where he announced he is running for the office of Bucharest general mayor.

He added that he had discussed with the PSD representatives, and one of the reasons he decided to run was that the "voice" of those from ALDE "was not heard loud enough" in the Capital together during the 4-year partnership with the Social Democrats.

"This is a strong reason. In the end, by virtue of the agreement with the PSD, we leave the autonomy to the organizations to decide what is better. We want to maximize our chance for the local elections in Bucharest. We want to have this possibility to address directly, without constraints, the Liberal electorate. (...) The discussions [with PSD - ed.n.] also concerned the lists, the positions, etc. If we had obtained what we imagined we represent - according to polls we are credited at 5% nationwide, and at over 6% in Bucharest ... I did not have the impression that the representation we would have obtained was sufficient. (...) And what's more, in the theory of political sciences it is said that two lists gather more votes than one common list," the ALDE leader said.

In his opinion, mayor general Gabriela Firea has a "natural request" according to which it is not normal that in the districts where PSD has mayors, these should be removed and other candidates should be nominated.

"The discussion was very civilized, we did not argue, we remained in the best relations. But I think that ALDE is in a situation where it has to consolidate its base. (...) Where our colleagues considered it better to enter a local alliance with PSD because they will have an extra chance, we allowed them this freedom" added Calin Popescu-Tariceanu.