UPDATE USR's Barna: Pact for early elections submitted during talks with president

Save Romania Union (USR) leader Dan Barna announced on Friday that, during consultations with President Klaus Iohannis, he submitted the Pact for the organization of early elections. According to Barna, the head of the state was "somewhat" in general agreement with the USR representatives regarding the timeliness of calling early elections. "I submitted during the discussions the Pact for early elections, which USR has proposed more than a month ago. The president was, somewhat, in agreement with us, that indeed early elections are the correct, moral and functional solution for Romania. Equally, the need for a new government was discussed - and here we agreed again - because there is no longer any argument for the current government to remain at rule. The Dancila Government was dismissed by Parliament and from this standpoint Romania is clearly in need of a new government," Barna said at the Cotroceni Presidential Palace after the consultations. At the same time, he specified that as far as USR is concerned, the aim of a new Executive "should be holding early elections, somewhere in February - March" next year. "Somehow we are glad to see that Ludovic Orban [chair of the National Liberal Party] and even Mrs. Dancila [outgoing prime minister] were talking about early elections. The president confirmed this since yesterday. Getting to early elections seems complicated and difficult, but this is exactly what the USR has been doing for three years in Romanian politics. We have been told that there is no way a party of ordinary people could enter Parliament. We did this. We have been told that we cannot achieve the 'No Convicts in Public Office' initiative (...) and we have collected a million signatures for it," he said. The USR leader considers that through early elections the political crisis can be resolved, so that "a stable government, supported by Parliament, that would carry out the reforms that Romania needs" in education and infrastructure is formed after the ballot. He reiterated that the USR will support a non-PSD (Social Democratic Party) government, also tasked with organizing early elections, given that it will also have priorities such as: organizing local elections in two rounds, implementing the 'No Convicts in Public Office' initiative, repairing the effects of infamous Ordinance 114, correcting the laws of justice. "Getting to early elections is a matter of political will. Technically and legally there are details that we will find together. My colleagues presented some of them during the meetings. There are technical solutions. The problem is that of political will and I conveyed to the president that his involvement is necessary these days in convincing the other parties in Parliament," Barna said. Dan Barna stressed that at this moment the Dancila Government has no legitimacy anymore. "How can you tell the people that after huge efforts we have succeeded to dismiss this government, which was taking Romania out of Europe, but we still keep them for five to six months at the country's helm? It is unacceptable," stressed the USR leader. AGERPRES (RO - author: Irinela Visan, editor: Andreea Rotaru; EN - author: Simona Iacob, editor: Simona Klodnischi)

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