Romanian opposition alliance officially announces candidate for president

The alliance of Romanian opposition parties Save Romania Union (USR) and PLUS officially announced on Sunday that USR leader Dan Barna is its candidate for the presidential elections in November.

Barna’s goal is to reach the second round of the presidential elections, where he predicts he will compete against current president Klaus Iohannis, who represents the National Liberal Party (PNL), the biggest opposition force in Romania.

"For Romania, it will be a sign of normality and healing to be able to choose in the second round between the PNL candidate and the USR-PLUS candidate,” Barna said on Sunday as he officially announced his candidacy.

Meanwhile, PLUS president Dacian Ciolos will be the designated prime minister if the alliance wins the parliamentary elections in 2020. Ciolos was prime minister of Romania between December 2015 and December 2016. He announced that the alliance’s objective for 2020 is to obtain a majority in the Parliament to change the Constitution and enforce the governing program.

The USR-PLUS alliance came third in the elections for the European Parliament on May 26, under one percentage point behind the Social Democratic Party (PSD), the ruling party in Romania, while PNL won first place. PSD hasn’t decided on a candidate for the presidential elections yet.

(Photo source: Facebook/Uniunea Salvati Romania - USR)