Romania’s 2024 elections: President of opposition party USR resigns after disappointing results

Cătălin Drulă, the president of the Save Romania Union (USR), has resigned after the party recorded disappointing results in the June 9 elections.

“The result of the elections is below the expectations we had. […] I take responsibility for the result,” Drulă said in his resignation speech.

Drulă won the elections for the president of Romania’s main opposition party in 2022.

USR was part of the alliance that supported Bucharest mayor Nicușor Dan in his bid for a second mandate. Preliminary results show that the party hasn’t managed to keep the mayor mandate it had in Bucharest’s District 1 and the one in District 2 is still disputed. In Brașov, USR mayor Allen Coliban gathered fewer votes than his PNL rival George Scripcaru. In the EU Parliament elections, the United Right Alliance, which included USR, scored a little above 16%, according to preliminary data.

Drulă said he would call elections for a new party president shortly and pointed to Dominic Fritz, the Timișoara mayor who has won a second term, as a potential leader. “It is essential that USR goes further because Romania’s modernization hopes were pinned on this movement,” he said.

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(Photo: George Calin/ Inquam Photos)