Several prominent names within the National Liberal Party (PNL) have not secured spots for the parliamentary elections in Bucharest, leading to discontent within the party.Among them are Florin Cîțu, former Prime Minister and PNL leader, as well as Ligia Deca, the current Minister of Education.Due to a lack of eligible positions in Bucharest, the party has decided to send Cîțu to run in Galați, while Deca will be running in Vâlcea, according to liberal sources speaking to News.ro..
The leadership of PNL is set to validate the final lists of candidates for the parliamentary elections on Monday, December 1st.
Florin Cîțu is expected to head PNL’s list for the Senate in Galați, despite expressing a desire for a candidacy in Bucharest.Ligia Deca, a close ally of President Klaus Iohannis, is facing a similar situation; she will run in Vâlcea due to the unavailability of eligible positions in the Capital, even though she was initially considered for a candidacy in Bucharest.Presidential advisor on health issues, Diana Păun, will lead the PNL list in the Senate for Caraș-Severin.
‘Even if they lead the lists in their respective counties, neither Ligia Deca nor Diana Păun is assured of entering Parliament.Still, there were no available spots in Bucharest, as the local branch has a low score,’ sources from the PNL leadership told News.ro.
PNL Candidates in Bucharest
Andrei Baciu, former president of the National Health Insurance House and former vice president and then president of the National Committee for Coordination of COVID-19 Vaccination Activities (CNCAV), who is under criminal investigation in the COVID-19 vaccine procurement case, will run on the PNL list in Bucharest for a seat in the Chamber of Deputies, according to the same sources cited by News.ro.
On the eligible spots for the December 1 elections in Bucharest are the current Minister of Energy, Sebastian Burduja (head of PNL Bucharest), who will top the list for the Chamber of Deputies.
Other candidates eligible on the Bucharest lists include Ionuț Stroe (PNL spokesperson, former Minister of Youth and Sports from 2019-2020 in the Orban government), Monica Anisie (former Minister of Education in the Orban government), Mihai Voicu (former PNL deputy from 2016-2020), and Octavian Oprea (former Secretary General of the National Liberal Youth and vice president of the Authority for the Digitization of Romania, dismissed after TNL members chanted insults against the PSD during a party meeting).
For the Senate, PNL’s list in Bucharest will be headed by Sorin Cîmpeanu (former Minister of Education, who resigned following plagiarism allegations).The second spot on the Senate list is expected to go to MEP Vlad Nistor, according to News.ro.
Deadline for Submitting Candidate Lists for the 2024 Parliamentary Elections
Thursday, October 17th, is the deadline for submitting candidate lists and independent candidacies for the Senate and Chamber of Deputies in the country’s electoral constituencies.
On October 28th, submitted candidacies will become final, and the electoral campaign will commence on November 1st, according to the schedule for the 2024 parliamentary elections.
The electoral campaign will conclude on November 30th at 07:00, coinciding with the start of the first day of voting abroad.Voting in the country will take place on December 1st, which will also be the second day for expatriate voting.Voting will end at 21:00.