A month after NLP leader Nicolae Cuke accused Bucharest of being a “blocked city” and asked the NLP to propose a ten-point plan for Nikusor Dan with deadlines, the capital’s mayor-general says he still hasn’t received a list. When asked whether he would stand alone in the local elections in 2024 or whether another party would support him for a new mandate if the PNL withdrew political support, Nikushor Dan said that until next June he would discuss “only issues of public administration” and “from June 2024” will also talk about politics.

At a press conference on Tuesday, Nikusor Dan was asked how he responds to accusations by PNL and USR councilors that he proposed an inflated budget for the capital city hall.

• “Yesterday I met with colleagues from PNL and USR, and no one raised this issue. This is a budget that is the result of revenue estimates made by each of the directors. (…)
• There is a real budget, which is somewhere around 5.5 billion lei, very close to last year’s performance, and above this budget there is money that comes from European funds, which if you take it, you spend it. That’s why I always turn to what concerns income, less to European funds,” said the mayor of the capital, quoted by News.ro.

Asked whether PNL representatives had informed him whether they supported him for a new mandate, Nikušor Dan said that in Bucharest the PNL-USR-PMP coalition was “working very well”.

• “There is a coalition that works at the level of the municipality of Bucharest. This coalition consists of PNL, USR and PMP and is working very well.
• We had a discussion yesterday at the General Council meeting that will be held on January 31st, in regular session, and we have had several meetings, and we will have a budget meeting that will be held on February 3rd. So, this coalition is working,” Nikushor Dan said.

When asked if he had a discussion with the leader of the PNL in Bucharest or with the president of the PNL, Nicolae Chuke, and if he received a list of conditions that he had to fulfill, Nikusor Dan replied: “As far as I know, this list is an internal matter of the PNL-ul, until at this moment it has not arrived, as far as I know, like you, the deadline for this is the end of January.”

He was also asked what he would do if his political support was withdrawn for 2024, whether he would run independently or join a party.

• “The elections, if I’m not mistaken, will be held in September 2024. Until June 2024, the state administration, we will repair pipelines, buy trolleybuses, make unified lines, attract European funds. We have been discussing politics day and night since June 2024,” Nikushor Dan said.

“Let’s make it clear to him what we expect from him in a reasonable timeframe to see how we can work with him further.”

Bucharest’s PNL will have to propose a ten-point plan to the capital’s mayor-general, Nikusor Dan, by the end of January, with deadlines for implementation in the first half of next year, and depending on his achievements, the Liberals will decide whether to support or not in the General Council, PNL leader Prem said on December 9. Prime Minister Nikolae Chuke.

• “I propose that by the end of January, the PNL Bucharest organization should think about a ten-point plan to present to the mayor general with precise deadlines for the first half of next year.
• Depending on the achievements, we will decide to what extent we want to support him in the General Council or not,” Chuke said at a meeting of the PNL Sector 3 Coordination Committee.

He accused Bucharest of being a “blocked city that faced a lack of perspective, governance problems and a very complex constellation of political conflicts”.

• “We will have to formulate a clearer answer regarding the management of the capital. I confess to you, at least until now, I do not fully understand the position of the PNL in Bucharest.
• Are we in power or are we in opposition? In the sectors, depending on the personality of the mayors, everything is also different and confusing.
• Everyone agrees that we must win Bucharest in the next election. I would like to ask you another question that I encourage you to think about: why do we want to win Bucharest? A municipality with a predominantly liberal electorate needs a liberal leadership, and I’m sure we all agree on that, but I’m also sure you also think we can’t win Bucharest again based on the idea that the right should lead.
• We can win only if we show that we have a vision, a project for this European capital. I suggest you somehow turn the question around. It is not with whom or in alliance with which party we will win Bucharest, but why we want to win Bucharest. Depending on the answer to this question, we will have to determine our response in relation to the current Mayor General, as well as what path to follow towards our goal.
• In other words, let’s clearly tell him what we expect from him in a reasonable time frame to see how we can continue to work with him,” Chuke said.