PM Orban: For the time being, we are not discussing about Nicusor Dan joining PNL

The leader of the PNL (National Liberal Party), Prime Minister Ludovic Orban, on Tuesday stated that, for the time being, there is no discussion about the possibility that Nicusor Dan, the elected general mayor of the Capital City, joined PNL.

"This is a decision that Nicusor Dan has to think about. We are not discussing this topic yet. For now, Nicusor Dan was elected with our support and with the support of USR PLUS, but especially with the vote of the people of Bucharest," Orban told B1 Tv private television broadcaster.

He claimed that in some sections the votes given to Nicusor Dan disappeared.

"Where our people have not been vigilant enough, votes for Nicusor Dan have disappeared," Orban said, noting that there are inaccuracies in districts 1, 2 and 5. He gave the example of the fact that in sector 5, 90 votes for PNL were counted in the minutes for the Roma Party.

Orban also spoke about the statement of the co-chair of USR PLUS Dacian Ciolos, who stated that the possible partnerships after the parliamentary elections will be thought according to his own vision on how Romania should be governed and will not sit at "bargains" and that his party will explain the principles for building good governance.

"What does he mean he will not negotiate? Together we supported Nicusor Dan. (...) But what I am interested in is the data. PNL won the elections with 34 per cent, PSD ranked second with 30 per cent (...) and then came USR, third, with 13 per cent. This is the result, and in terms of winners, I saw that some people only see the victories of USR PLUS in Timisoara and Brasov. Very well, that was the wish of the voters, although both mayors we had have great results, maybe their mandate was too long, maybe they had an inability to communicate, but the concrete results are visible," said Orban.

Regarding the number of mayors, he indicated that, according to the partial results, PSD has 1,430, PNL - 1,250 mayors, PMP - 50 mayors, USR PLUS - 45.

Orban also mentioned that PNL has 17 presidencies of county councils.

He said the local elections were a battle of "extreme difficulty" and that of Bucharest "epic."