After decided to no longer support Elena Lasconi, its president, in the fight for Cotroceni, the USR leadership decided that the party’s first vice-president, Dominic Fritz, would take over key responsibilities in Elena Lasconi’s absence. He will keep in touch with the branches, the secretary general and will be able to convene internal meetings, responsibilities that, until now, fell exclusively to the president. The measure comes at a time when the party is deeply divided, and the elected leader no longer participates in meetings and is increasingly isolated in the leadership structure.
The USR National Bureau, a structure led by the group that recently decided to support Nicușor Dan in the race for Cotroceni, met this morning and established the new internal functioning mechanism. In a tense context, in which Elena Lasconi distanced herself from central decisions and was no longer present at meetings or in contact with the leaders of the branches, Dominic Fritz will indirectly lead the party.
The mayor of Timișoara, who was the first vice-president of the party, was the second most voted person in the party at last year’s Congress, after Elena Lasconi. He was directly involved in the negotiations with Nicușor Dan and publicly announced, together with Ionuț Moșteanu, the party’s decision to shift its support to the current mayor general of the Capital.
The National Bureau decided that he will keep in touch with the leaders in the territory, with the secretary general and will be able to formally convene meetings.
According to Digi24 sources within the party, the replacement of Elena Lasconi as the leader of the USR is also being considered, but a decision in this regard will not be made before the June elections. The reason given is procedural, as a Congress needs to be convened, and its organization takes time. The same sources claim that Dominic Fritz is currently the favorite to become the next leader of the party, in case Lasconi is officially replaced.
The USR National Bureau, meeting on Monday, decided to empower the secretary general to manage the party’s contracts, the party said in a press release. Until now, the party’s contracts were managed by president Elena Lasconi. They will now be taken over by Ciprian Necula, who has been serving as secretary general since February 2025.
“In order to ensure the proper functioning and continuation of the USR’s activity under statutory conditions, the National Bureau has mandated the Secretary General to take responsibility for managing all contracts concluded by the USR. This decision, taken unanimously by those present, aims to operationalize the internal functioning of the party and to allow the development of current activities,” the USR specifies.
Basically, after this decision, “the Secretary General will have the mandate to sign, administer and take all necessary measures for the execution of contracts concluded with third parties, for the proper administration and streamlining of the party’s activity,” according to the explanations provided by the USR.
The decision of the USR National Bureau today was signed by Dominic Fritz, but this does not mean a replacement of Elena Lasconi from the party leadership, but only a punctual decision. Elena Lasconi was absent from today’s meeting, as First Vice President Dominic Fritz was the highest-ranking member who signed the document, MP Radu Mihaiu told Agerpres