National leader of the Save Romania Union (USR) Elena Lasconi said on Monday that she is not considering dropping out of the presidential race or running for Bucharest City general mayor, adding that „the USR team is more united than ever.”

She also said that former USR national leader and incumbent Bucharest general mayor Nicusor Dan did not ask her to withdraw, mentioning that the current candidate of the coalition, Crin Antonescu, „did not work in the last 10 years” and „was known as one of the biggest shirking lawmakers.”

„I am not considering any dropping out. I am the party’s presidential candidate. I am the only pro-European candidate who made it to the second round. Over 1,700,000 people voted for me and I thank them. Many of them may have done it strategically, not because they like me very much and I want to thank them too. I will not do this and I do not trust the polls,” Lasconi told a news conference at Parliament, when asked if he still considers dropping out and supporting Dan if the polls show him faring better than her in the polls.

She added that she does not trust polls.

Asked about the situation in which USR would ask her to withdraw, Lasconi said: „This is stirring up trouble. The USR team is more united than ever.”

„We are ready for the campaign; we are ready for hard fighting. There are no colleagues of mine who have ever said or, I don’t know, this thing has not reached me (…), that anyone thinks that I should retire.”

Elena Lasconi also said that she does not consider running for the Bucharest City Hall. „Definitely, no, I am running for president and I want to win. People are ready for a woman president.”

Asked what she would do if the coalition leaders or candidate Crin Antonescu asked her to withdraw so as not to split up the electorate, Lasconi said: „I don’t know why everyone asks me about fragmentation when they see all kinds of new characters.”

„If we talk about Crin Antonescu, he is the one who has not worked in the last 10 years. That is, we want an absentee, another absentee at Cotroceni. Not to mention the fact that he was known as one of the biggest shirking lawmakers when he was one. I am not new to this electoral competition for the presidential election, he is. And I believe that these parties, whatever they are, with other candidates than they were last year, are nothing more than profiteers of the annulment of last year’s presidential election.”

Asked about Victor Ponta’s possible entry into the race, Lasconi said: „Victor Ponta doesn’t understand, just as Mircea Geoana didn’t understand, he didn’t understand why Romanians don’t vote for them every time they enter a race, no matter what it is, why Romanians don’t like them.”

„Victor Ponta was a social democrat, he adored the Chinese, now he is a sovereigntist and libertarian, because he tries to copy Donald Trump. I don’t believe in what Victor Ponta says. Let’s stop giving credit to those old politicians who did nothing but rob this country and rob Romanians and lie to Romanians.”

AGERPRES