Save Romania Union (USR) First Vice President Dominic Fritz declared on Monday that according to the parallel count, party leader Elena Lasconi would be 5,000 votes ahead of the Social Democratic candidate Marcel Ciolacu in the presidential election, with her margin widening compared to the initial report, inform agerpres.ro.
"This is why we see no reason why the Constitutional Court could annul these elections. And it is really of utmost urgency that we are able to start campaigning for the second presidential round," the mayor of Timisoara city told a press conference held at the USR headquarters.
Fritz reiterated USR's criticism of the vote recount decision, calling the process "non-transparent." He stressed, however, that there is "absolutely no indication" that the order validated by the first-round vote has changed.
"We said it right from the start that this recount process is problematic, unnecessary and will not be able to somehow put to rest all the questions about these results. Precisely because it is a non-transparent process. At the moment, through the representatives we have, we are informed that Mrs. Lasconi is leading Mr. Ciolacu by over 5,000 votes. Yet we only have 50 representatives for 9 million votes... of course I cannot rule out that ballot bags will appear, or will vanish, that minutes will appear. That is precisely why we were clear from the beginning that this process should have been much more transparent," Fritz argued.
Asked if the USR has contacted PSD to ask for their support for Elena Lasconi's presidential bid, he replied that the Save Romania Union is in contact "with the leaders of all parties," including PSD, and said that he expects PSD to continue on the pro-European path it has followed in recent years.
"Despite all the criticism we have and have had against the PSD, the pro-European orientation of this party has never been questioned in recent years. And I expect that this clear line of the PSD - pro-Europe, pro-NATO - which was also visible in their foreign policy, in the government's stance towards Ukraine... this line should continue, and that hopefully the PSD does not try to copy the isolationists' strategies. Because, in the end, if they try to copy something, the people will vote for the original anyway," he specified.
Dominic Fritz indicated that the USR will have official discussions with the PSD and the PNL to ensure the necessary support for Elena Lasconi, adding that such informal discussions are already taking place, because "the situation is much too serious for self-conceit to prevail."
"As soon as we have the CCR ruling, Elena Lasconi and the USR team will hold talks with all the parties. And we won't engage in these discussions already drawing red lines to keep certain subjects off limits. We are going there with an open heart and with the firm desire to save Romania from a catastrophe. (...) We will engage in these discussions with maturity and responsibility for Romania. In the process, we will keep in mind that we did not win 30 - 40 or 50% of the vote, but just as much as we did. But it's not the allocation of government seats the most important thing today. We have a functional government, what is important is to have a president," Dominic Fritz declared.
Comentează