Save Romania Union ends negotiations with former PM

Save Romania Union (USR) and former Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos failed to reach an agreement on Ciolos and his team joining the party, mainly due to opposition from USR leader Nicusor Dan, reports local Adevarul. Dacian Ciolos and several of his cabinet’s ministers recently launched Romania 100, an NGO with a political agenda, aiming to get involved in local politics. There have been some speculations recently that Ciolos may join one of the two parties that used his image in the campaign for the parliamentary elections in December 2016. However, many of the National Liberal Party (PNL) leaders were unhappy with the former PM’s lack of involvement in the campaign. Meanwhile, USR seemed a more accessible party for Ciolos, given that some of the party’s leaders wanted him in. Not all, however, and founder Nicusor Dan had the last call. He and the USR team in Bucharest, around which the party was built last year, didn’t want to just give the party to Ciolos. USR came third in the parliamentary elections in December 2016, taking some 9% of the votes. USR organizations around the country and former EU funds minister Cristian Ghinea supported the idea of Ciolos joining the party, saying that the former PM could take USR to the next level, due to his popularity. However, due to the disagreements within USR, Nicusor Dan and Dacian Ciolos decided to go their separate ways. Thus, Dacian Ciolos will likely launch his own political party and the USR members who supported him may join his movement, which would also give the former PM a small representation in Romania’s Parliament. editor@romania-insider.com