Third-biggest party in Romania backs its leader for president

Save Romania Union (USR), the third-biggest party by number of seats in the Romanian Parliament, has nominated its president Dan Barna as its official candidate for president in the presidential elections to take place in November, Digi24.ro reported.

Dan Barna, 44, has been a member of the Chamber of Deputies since December 2016 and president of USR since October 2017. He received 324 votes out of a total of 492 at the party’s congress on Saturday, where 500 USR delegates voted their candidate for the presidential elections.

USR and PLUS, the party of former Romanian prime minister Dacian Ciolos, will run together in the next elections after their alliance emerged as the third biggest political force in Romania following the elections for the European Parliament in May. The Alliance 2020 USR+PLUS obtained almost as many votes as the ruling party PSD (around 23% of the votes) while the National Liberal Party (PNL) was first, with a score of 27%. The liberals, who are also in the opposition, support president Klaus Iohannis for a new mandate while USR and PLUS have decided to throw their own candidate into the presidential race.

PLUS will also select a candidate for president, following an internal vote, by the end of July, Dacian Ciolos said, Mediafax reported. Ciolos, now a member of the European Parliament and leader of Renew Europe group, is likely the party’s top candidate. Meanwhile, USR and PLUS are also negotiating to decide who the alliance will back for president and who will be the designated prime minister should the alliance win the parliamentary elections in 2020.

(Photo: Uniunea Salvați România - USR)