USR PLUS alliance says negotiations with PNL over district mayoralty candidates advancing

Chairman of the Save Romania Union (USR) Bucharest Claudiu Nasui and Chairman of the Freedom, Unity and Solidarity Party (PLUS) Bucharest Vlad Voiculescu announced on Sunday at a news conference that negotiations with the National Liberal Party (PNL) for the nomination of some common candidates for the Bucharest district mayoralties have advanced .

"What I can tell you is that things have progressed and are advancing. We are optimistic that we will be successful and have the ability to advance a team with which to campaign and say to the people of Bucharest: Yes, we will work with these people and change Bucharest," said Nasui.

Voiculescu also expressed optimism about the negotiations with PNL on this issue.

"At the district level, negotiations are still working. The ball is in the PNL's court at the moment. Our principles are those that we have enunciated and repeated. We are expecting and are optimistic this time that next week we will be able to tell you the results of these negotiations, results that will be to the benefit of the people of Bucharest. I think it is a good thing for each of us if in the end we come up with a team that we can all be proud of, after a compromise or another," said Voiculescu.

Nasui mentioned that negotiations with PNL are very advanced also for the appointment of a common candidate for the City Hall of Galati, but the USR PLUS Alliance will never support Mihai Chirica for the position of mayor of the city of Iasi.

On the other hand, the USR PLUS leaders announced having filed a complaint with the National Anti-Corruption Directorate (DNA) for abuse of office and usurpation of the position by Bucharest District 2 Deputy Mayor Dan Cristian Popescu, endorsed by PNL for the position of Bucharest District 2 mayor.

The accusations also cover former and current Bucharest District 2 Mayor Neculai Ontanu and Mihai Mugur Toader, respectively.

Thus, Radu Mihaiu, the alliance's candidate for District 2 mayor, said the complaint references several irregularities in the contracts signed by the City Hall with the sanitation company Supercom SA, irregularities found in a control note prepared by the National Authority for the Regulation of Community Services.

According to the USR PLUS candidate, the conclusions of the note read: for the collection of household waste, the amount of illegal amounts paid by the District 2 City Hall to Supercom, between March 1, 2019 - October 31, 2019, is 10.2 million lei; for the cleaning of public roads, the amount of illegally contracted amounts, between January 1, 2019 - October 31, 2019, is 3.2 million lei; the amounts illegally agreed and additionally contracted by the District 2 City Hall for snow clearing during the winter 2014/2015 and winter 2018/2019, are to the tune of 9.5 million lei.

"The law says that the additional documents to the contract concluded with Supercom SA must be approved by the Local Council. 57 such documents were concluded by the District 2 City Hall without the approval of the Local Council. Neculai Ontanu, Mugur Mihai Toader and Dan Cristian Popescu violated the law by negotiating illegal tariffs with Supercom. The three replaced the District 2 deliberative and negotiated behind closed doors illegal tariffs from the citizens' money," said Mihaiu.