Bucharest mayor Gabriela Firea has announced at “Marius Tucă Show” on Thursday that she would like to run for a second term at the Capital City Hall, yet admitting she also considers running for Presidency on behalf of PSD and endorsed by ALDE and Pro Romania or as an independent.
Asked what she will do if PM Viorica Dancila will be nominated by PSD as official candidate for Cotroceni, Firea replied: “We are analysing it”.
Also questioned under which circumstances she would join the race for Presidency, she retorted: “If my colleagues from PSD, our partner ALDE and former colleagues now in Pro Romania considered me the best solution for the center-left wing”.
Firea said she could be one of the candidates to run under these circumstances and if the PSD’s analysis is clearheaded and assumed, and not prompted by backroom games.
“Traditionally speaking PSD is joining the presidential race with the party’s leader, but also traditionally, PSD has been losing presidential election for 15 years. If tradition has been detrimental, maybe it’s time to change it. I say it dispassionately”, Firea added.
Bucharest mayor pointed out that the Social Democrats will eventually decided among candidates, and there will be a political decisions by the local organisations. Yet, she warned that the presidential election is a stake that also concerns her in the view of her candidature for Bucharest city hall, arguing that “if PSD is taking a low score in presidential ballot, we’ll lose all coming elections”.
Political analysts argue that the internal race to be designated the PSD candidate for presidency is between Gabriela Firea, who enjoys a good score in the opinion polls in terms of popularity and confidence, and PM Viorica Dancila, as party chairwoman. Although she was not surveyed by the ruling party’s internal polls, Dancila announced as a first last week that she doesn’t rule out running for the Cotroceni top seat.
There are rumours saying that, amid escalating conflict with PM Dancila, Firea seeks to secure ALDE’s and Pro Romania’s endorsement for a potential candidature and that even negotiations are in store next week between Firea, Calin Popescu Tariceanu and Victor Ponta to seal an alliance to back Firea for presidency.
In a PSD meeting last week, Firea would have reproached Dancila that she has come out public first to talk about running for Presidency, although she has always claimed things should be discussed and decided within the statutory fora.
Bucharest mayor would have also told the prime minister that she is not communication enough with the ruling partners, ALDE, on the presidential candidate issue. Firea also accused Dancila that she is creating problems.
Dancila would have replied to Firea that she is not a trouble maker and that she cannot ignore the mandate of the PSD members and that she will be the one settling the results if they are poor results in election. Dancila added that if PSD is not entering the presidential runoffs, then she will be the first to resign from the helm of the party.
“You had something to reproach to the former party chairman and now you have something to reproach to the current leader,” Dancila would have told Firea.
“I see you don’t want us to have a constructive and positive dialogue. Don’t scold me for this is not the solution”, Firea would have replied to the PM.
Yesterday PSD secretary general Mihai Fifor said that PSD will announce its candidate for Presidency next Tuesday, on July 23, stressing that neither Gabriela Firea nor Viorica Dancila had been surveyed as presidential candidates, but only the candidates that have voiced their intention to run so far, meaning him, Eugen Teodorovici, Serban Nicolae and Liviu Plesoianu.
Fifor did not reveal the results of the findings, but sources disclosed that the measurements did include both Firea and Dancila and they look like that:
Gabriela Firea – 26%, Călin Popescu Tăriceanu – 20%, Victor Ponta – 11%, Viorica Dăncilă – 10%, Eugen Teodorovici – 6%, Liviu Pleşoianu – 5%, Ecaterina Andronescu – 5%, Olguţa Vasilescu – 5%, Mihai Fifor – 4%, Şerban Nicolae -3%, Sorina Pintea – 2%.
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