USR leader Katalin Drula said on Tuesday that the elections should not be combined, saying that the PNL’s position is “purely tactical” as the Liberals seek to get more votes in the parliamentary elections if the elections are held on the same day as the local ones.

Katelin Drula said at a press conference in Iasi on Tuesday evening that each type of election has a separate calendar that “is quite clear” and that there is no need to combine them, News.ro reported.

“First, we have the European Parliament, on June 9, they are established at the European level. Local elections were held on September 27, 2020, four years have passed, so they will be at the end of September. Have you ever gone to vote in the parliamentary elections in June? no The elections to the parliament are in November-December. At about the same time, presidential elections are held. Things are quite clear, there is also a decision of the Constitutional Court. Election conspiracy against nature. Well, what does the problem of the municipality have to do with the discussion of two or three visions of some candidates for the post of mayor with candidacy for the post of president of Romania? The position of the NLP regarding the unification of elections is untenable. The step they want to take is purely tactical,” Drula said.

According to the leader of the UDR, the liberals hope to get an “artificially higher score than people would give in such elections.”

“For example, we had elections to the Parliament of Romania and a new government is being formed based on them. People say we don’t vote for PNL because we saw what is happening, we better vote for the right option because we don’t think PSD should reach the government. PNL strategists sit and think: how to do it? Come on, we still have several mayors, and if a person votes for the PNL in the mayor’s office, they must also lose the vote in parliament. Well, it’s the work of the hands, to put it in a non-academic word,” said Katalin Drula.

According to the leader of the UDR, “it is shameful to run away from the electorate like this”, he believes that the liberals should accept the formula of holding this year’s elections separately.

Four types of elections will be organized in Romania this year, and the possibility of combining some of them is being intensively discussed.

The PNL wants to combine local elections with the first round of presidential elections

Coalition leaders met two weeks ago in the Government to discuss the future of the 2024 elections. The Liberals want to propose combining local elections with the first round of presidential elections at the end of September. On the other hand, the Social Democrats would agree to the proposal on one condition.

• The NLP insists on combining local elections with the first round of presidential elections. PSD has a condition / Scenarios discussed in the Coalition

The decision on possible unification of local elections with the first round of presidential elections should be made no later than the beginning of March. According to the election recommendations, changes aimed at the organization of elections should be made at least six months before their holding.

The NLP proposes to hold both types of elections on the same day, on the last Sunday of September. The second round of presidential elections was supposed to take place in mid-October, and the new president would take office in December.

The stake of this scenario is the effective mobilization of the electorate of the main parties. More precisely, “in local elections, mayors are directly interested and involved in getting as many votes as possible. By combining the two types of elections, the parties of the system maximize the use of resources and benefit from mobilization and vote maximization, obtaining the best results in both local and presidential elections. In addition, George Simion’s candidacy for the presidency may be marginalized,” HotNews.ro’s political sources claim.

Procedurally, presidential elections will be held at the end of November, on the last weekend of the month, followed by parliamentary elections, and then the second round of presidential elections.

• Cuke asked if the draft UDMR, which changes the date of the Romanian presidential election, would be accepted: It is very possible

SDP conditions the merger of elections

The PSD will support the unification of elections on the condition that both parties support a joint presidential candidate, political sources say. In addition, the candidacies of Nicolae Chuke and Mircea Joane would have been excluded by the Social Democrats, considering them unacceptable candidates from their point of view.

Late last year, PSD official sources said they were considering combining local elections with the first round of presidential elections in September 2024.

• The combination of local elections with the first round of presidential elections also takes into account SDP / What is at stake – sources

• It will be “quite difficult” for Nikolay Chuke to reach the presidential finals, says Vasile Dinku. “With some agreements, election fabrications, there would be an opportunity”