The result of USR in the elections on June 9 is a disaster through which the party pays the price, briefly, for betraying the electorate and transforming into what it fought against. But the real disaster is the fact that at this moment we see, officially measured by the vote, Romania has no Opposition, Power has paraded alone on all fronts, PSD and PNL made deals, took mayors, county council presidents, distributed the majority of MEPs. It is a toxic state for which USR bears immense responsibility and which must be quickly corrected.
To give the dimension of the disaster in the European elections, let’s say that USR has as many MEPs as SOS Șoșoacă – that is, two. The third one is the donation to PMP. The party that 5 years ago had 22% is now just over 8%.
On the other hand, people who were disdainfully driven out of USR, such as Mihai Polițeanu and Nicu Ștefănuță, have performed spectacularly.
How did they get here?
In short, through the destruction of internal democracy, through entrenchment in systemic practices, and, most seriously, through the abandonment of principles.
When you declared all those from other parties who became suspects as criminals and demanded their withdrawal, how can you have a suspect in second place on the MEP list and an indicted candidate for mayor?
When you rode on PSD for every statement against justice, how can you launch a barrage of attacks against the prosecutors investigating your own?
When it came to Dragnea, you took to the streets against the value threshold in the case of abuse of office, how can you defend your "criminal" by invoking that a few thousand lei per month don't matter?
All these things have consequences. Just as the comfortable refuge in chewing on slogans is paid for.
At least from Cătălin Drulă, we haven't heard anything other than slogans for months and months. None of the rigor and professionalism demonstrated at the Ministry of Transport has been practiced by Cătălin Drulă at the helm of USR.
And the cherry on top was the creation of ADU, along with two parties completely unsavory by USR's old standards, sprinkled with political dinosaurs, one of them a former trinket of Elena Udrea, with a negligible share of percentages.
Sure, in principle, a political alliance as a counterbalance to the one in power is a good thing. But it should be a real counterbalance, not another face of the same sour pancake.
How can you offer to an electorate that raised you in the name of reform names like Palaz, Nică, Antonel Tănase, Minister "Grindă," etc.? And how much do you have to disdain this electorate to expect them to swallow the toxic offer just because, you know, the others are worse?
There is no conspiracy, no surprise that USR has reached the brink of irrelevance. And accomplices to the disaster are all those who patted it on the head demonizing the voices that said that this abandonment of principles and criteria is the path to disaster. Look where they've ended up.
The plan of the "5 guys"
The solution for USR is not a cosmetic makeover by getting rid of the "devils," after which business as usual, because we have lists to make. And that's exactly what is shaping up.
I appreciate Mr. Drulă's intention to step down, however, it was not encouraging at all that from the position of the architect of the catastrophe, he chose his successor. Who?
Dominic Fritz is a remarkable mayor; as a Timișoara native, I sincerely appreciated the way I found the city in winter, I like his attitude, his measured speech, but I don't see him as an authentic leader. I don't think he sees himself that way either; he has announced that he intends to focus on his mandate as mayor, which is normal and commendable.
In addition, as Elena Lasconi says, "all important decisions were made by only 5 guys, who probably will cling to power. The entire National Bureau should resign so we can clean house."
Is the plan of the "5 guys" somehow: we put Fritz in the showcase from Timișoara and we still hold the reins, just like they tried with Cioloș before the great schism?
USR doesn't need that; it needs an authentic breaking point from which to start over completely, with a strong, committed, and politically capable leader. At this moment, there is only one of that caliber, Elena Lasconi.
I'm not an admirer of Mrs. Lasconi; there are issues on which we are incompatible, for example, the vision of the traditional family. I sincerely believe she needs a quick ideological clarification if she wants to be the leader of a liberal party, but her electoral performance and charisma are undeniable, whether we like it or not.
She has energy, naturalness, will, she brought her party from 30% to over 50% in 4 years, and surely she wouldn't be a mere puppet in the hands of the "5 guys." That's why Mr. Drulă didn't even mention her name?
"You have to be ruthless if you want a reconstruction of USR," says Elena Lasconi. And the suspicion is that this is exactly what the "5 guys" want to avoid in order to maintain the power of a party they can use for their own interests.