Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) MP Mugur Mihaescu says that on Thursday a decision will be made in the party’s governing bodies regarding the candidate who will remain in the race for the May presidential election, George Simion or Anamaria Gavrila.

He was asked on Monday, at the Parliament House, when AUR would make a decision on the candidate who remains in the race for the May election.

„After these candidacies will be defined and, from what I understand, I think it will be somewhere on Wednesday night, at 12:00. So, on Thursday we will make a decision, so that the one who will withdraw will no longer be listed on the ballot paper, so that no confusion will arise as in the case of Mr. Orban’s withdrawal,” he said.

He added that George Simion, Anamaria Gavrilă and Calin Georgescu discussed this subject.

„As far as I know, there is a survey done by them, I am not in a position to tell you if it was conducted and what its result is. I would like it to be George Simion [the final candidate]. Their word is their word, I know that they have respected it so far and will continue to respect it. (…) I suspect that there were two candidacies just so that there would be a backup, regardless of whether Mrs Gavrila is the backup or George Simion is.”

According to Mihaescu, George Simion „did not want this candidacy”, but „he will walk the walk and will surely advance to the runoff.

He was asked if George Simion is „a thoroughbred autocrat”, as stated by the president of the National Governing Council of AUR, Claudiu Tarziu: „Thoroughbred I can tell you that he is, autocrat – never. Thoroughbred, that is, it is a rare breed. He is a rare breed for the energy he has, for the values he has, for how he knows how to fight for each of his colleagues; for all this he is a rare breed. And how does he know how to be? Just as a leader should be – and a friend, and less of a friend when necessary, and relentless when necessary, and loving when necessary. Those are the prerogatives of a leader.”

AGERPRES