Bucharest mayor wants to be an alternative to SocDem leader

Gabriela Firea, the mayor of Bucharest, said she was willing to run to whatever position Liviu Dragnea, the leader of the ruling Social Democrat Party (PSD), decides to run for, Mediafax reported. She is doing this to offer an alternative to Dragnea. She is a member of PSD, but lost all her senior positions in the party last year, after a string of attacks on Dragnea. “With Mr. Dragnea making my mandate impossible, making my life impossible, he is basically getting even. One thing is clear, the entire country can see this. He is getting even now because, in September of last year, I had the courage to say that things are not going in the right direction […] Wherever he will go, considering that he is making my life impossible in Bucharest, I will go to show a different face, to be an alternative to him,” Firea said in a TV show, when asked if she was considering another presidential bid. “We don’t know if he would run in the presidential elections, so I do not have a reason to say I will go there, but even if he runs in Teleorman, I’m letting him know officially that I will go after him and make a bid,” she said, quoted by Ziare.com. Firea also said she would not run on behalf of the Pro Romania party. Firea previously said she had no intention to run for president and wants to complete here mandate as mayor of Bucharest. Bucharest mayor challenges ruling party leader to TV talk on local budget (Photo: Gabriela Firea Facebook Page) editor@romania-insider.com