Romanian independent Prime Minister officially gets liberals’ support for new mandate

Romania’s National Liberal Party (PNL) officially announced that current Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos would be the party’s nomination for PM after the parliamentary elections in December. The party’s national bureau made the decision unanimously on Monday, October 24, and PNL president Alina Gorghiu announced it as a “historical decision”. She added that it was not necessary for Ciolos to become a member of the National Liberal Party. Dacian Ciolos replied that he is open for talks, “if there is a basis for such a collaboration following the results of the parliamentary elections.” He also added that he would not get involved in the liberals’ campaign for the parliamentary elections as he is not running for a seat in the Romanian Parliament. The liberals’ decision came just days after another local party, the Save Romania Union (USR), led by mathematician and social activist Nicusor Dan, announced that it would support Dacian Ciolos for a new mandate as Prime Minister after the elections. Nicusor Dan also launched the campaign slogan: “Dacian Ciolos - at last, you have someone to vote for!” (Dacian Ciolos, in sfarsit ai cu cine!) Thus, Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos has become the main figure of the parliamentary elections in December, although he’s not running for office and he’s not formally tied to any of the local political parties. In fact, he has repeatedly stated that he wanted to remain politically independent during his one-year term as head of Romania’s Government. However, last week, he launched a political platform called Romania 100, which states 10 principles and several ideas for the future Government, including projects that he has started while in office. He invited the local political parties that shared those principles to join him, without actually asking them to support him for a new mandate. “Besides the discussion of who will be the next premier, I’ve said that what's important is that the principles and the values of the Romania 100 Platform are taken over and integrated by the political parties that support it,” Ciolos said again on Monday. Both PNL and USR jumped to accept the Prime Minister’s invitation, as neither one of them has any leader that’s popular enough to serve as the party’s flagbearer and Prime Minister nominee in the elections. The liberal party even had difficulties finding a candidate for the Bucharest mayor position earlier this year while USR is a newly formed party that relies mostly on two people, Nicusor Dan and Frenchwoman Clotilde Armand, who nearly won the elections for mayor in Bucharest’s District 1