USR PLUS merger congress to take place Saturday; on-line debates, vote

Delegates of the Save Romania Union (USR) and the Freedom, Unity and Solidarity Party (PLUS) will meet on Saturday in an online congress to adopt the merger protocol of the two parties.

As a first step, the two parties will organise a separate congress each, followed by a joint meeting, which will be attended by 1,600 delegates from each party, USR MP Ionut Mouteanu told AGERPRES on Friday.

"Each party will vote on the merger protocol, as provided in the statutes. Each party will hold a separate congress, after which a joint one will take place. (...) The congress will take place online, the voting process - online. The debates will take place on that platform: with the manifesto, with speeches, with votes and so on, like any congress, only that it will take place online, taking into account the special conditions in which we carry out our activity during this period," he explained.

After the merger, the local, county, municipal and national offices of the two parties will be joined. The leadership will be provided by two co-chairs.

"The two parties, after the merger, will operate as a single party, USR PLUS, with a joint leadership, from the central level to the local level. All this in the transitional period until the protocol remains final in court. After the court rule the protocol final, a congress will take place in which we will elect the new leadership of the party and the same procedure will be carried out in each county and local branch," said Mosteanu.

According to him, the organisation of the congress is not motivated by the local elections getting near, because it is a process that started two years ago.