The Save Romania Union (USR) parliamentary groups conveyed to visiting OSCE representatives their concerns that the presidential elections this May will not be held under safe and fair conditions.

„At today’s meetings the representatives of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) with the parliamentary parties, the USR Parliament groups transmitted a written point of view expressing their concern that the presidential election in May will not be held under safe and fair conditions,” the USR said in a statement on Tuesday.

The USR asked the Parliament leadership that each party have an individual meeting with the OSCE representatives tasked with monitoring the presidential elections, instead of the OSCE representatives having a collective meeting with all the opposition parties, but the request was ignored.

„Those holding power in Parliament have decided to trample on yet another opportunity for normality and institutional dialogue, so we have signaled in writing to the OSCE delegation why the May elections are vulnerable and how the political factor involved in organizing the election is missing on the essence of a democratic ballot. It is about respecting electoral legislation during the campaign period, including in the time when campaigning is prohibited, the transparent reporting of all campaign expenses, the possibility of a recount, if needed, with observers present too. We will continue these steps because Romania can and will become an authentic European democracy even if the lawmakers in power would rather transform us into a new Belarus,” declared the USR Senate floor leader Stefan Palarie.

The USR drew the attention of the ODIHR delegation that „Romania is facing an unprecedented situation regarding the functionality of the electoral framework and that one can speak of well-organized elections only when measures are taken to prevent the repetition of the issues found in the November 24, 2024 presidential election, which was annulled by the Constitutional Court.”

„We told the ODIHR/OSCE representatives that even now, just two months before the repeat of the first round of voting, we do not have firm guarantees that the presidential election will be held correctly and that the Romanians’ vote will not be diverted. We do not have efficient mechanisms in place to prevent voter manipulation and the non-transparent financing of electoral campaigns, which are particularly serious issues in the context of the foreign interference highlighted in the declassified reports. Romania needs free and fair elections, democracy consolidation and for the citizens to regain their trust in state institutions, and the USR is taking all the steps in this direction,” Ionut Mosteanu, USR Lower House floor leader also stated.

AGERPRES