PSD's Ciolacu: PSD has no problem with any elections

Interim leader of the PSD (Social Democratic Party) Marcel Ciolacu on Monday evening said his party has no problem with any elections and that, regardless if the motion of censure against the Government passes or not, mayors will still be elected in one round of elections. Asked during a TV broadcast with Digi 24 private television broadcaster if it mattered to him if PM Ludovic Orban took steps to organise early polls, Ciolacu said: "The Social Democratic Party has no problem with any elections. (...) I don't now what steps he takes, but I know what new steps we take. And I repeat, there is no state in the European Union that allowed the modification of the election law four months before the elections. Which is also why this assumption bothers me that I have an understanding with Orban. There will be no elections in two rounds, the mayors will be elected in one round. Regardless if the motion passes or not. So what could be my understanding with Orban? About what, about something that it's not going to happen anyway? Mayors will be elected in one round of elections, this is obvious. For anybody who has a little legal logic and calculates the timing knows that there can be no two-round mayoral elections. If Mr. Orban wants to commit an abuse of office and he comes with a ordinance on top of a law that is being discussed by the CCR (Constitutional Court of Romania). This is clearly an abuse of office and he will answer before the law for it." Marcel Ciolacu said he did not rule out early polls, but he wanted the laws to be observed. Regarding such simulations showing that, if local elections were held in two rounds, PSD would lose mayors, he said he didn't believe in simulations. "I am not sure I believe in these simulations. (...) Maybe based on these simulations, Orban is doing something that is against democracy. (...) I don't want to follow PM Orban's logic, he should be the one who tells us what his intentions are," said Ciolacu, also adding that he did not believe in the survey polls pointing to the results of the elections either. "This is a game of the survey polls and I know that PSD also believed in it at some point, namely it believed that Romanians believe such tricks," said the representative of the PSD. According to him, if the motion of censure doesn't pass, this would be like a personal failure for him. "It would be like a personal failure for me, but maybe not for the Social Democratic Party, since we weren't sure from the beginning if it will pass. But now, looking at the figures, mathematically, the motion will pass. (...) We have announced this to colleagues that, on Sunday, in front of the mayors, presidents of county councils, MPs, colleagues fro the Executive Committee that my priority right now is the Congress and to defend democracy," said Ciolacu, when asked what would be the consequences for him and for the PSD if the motion failed, in the context in which the PSD is about to have its Congress. AGERPRES (RO - author: Nona Jalba, editor: Antonia Nita; EN - author: Cristina Zaharia, editor: Adina Panaitescu)