The electoral shock of USR on June 9 should have been a moment of awakening and a turning point in the relationship between the party and its potential electorate. It should have been a moment for the party to understand what aspects of its offer and conduct were not accepted and what needs to be changed.
However, for now, it seems that USR has only changed the doll in the shop window. The simple fact that Elena Lasconi has much more electoral traction than Cătălin Drulă is important, as long as, of course, this electoral force is not heavily sabotaged from within, so that after the elections, someone can take the party back.
The electoral list for Bucharest shows, however, that much of the electoral lesson in USR has not been understood.
Starting from the tensions caused by this, a few days ago, the discussion about changing the candidate selection system was triggered.
Currently, candidates are selected through delegates appointed by each organization. Hence the suspicion, well-founded indeed, that they could just as well be handpicked by the organization's leader.
In USR Bucharest, the largest organization in the country, President Vlad Voiculescu decided to have only 50 delegates, of which 10 boycotted the vote as an expression of widespread discontent.
The request, not subjected to a vote, because it cannot be, but to consultation by Elena Lasconi, was the transition to appointing candidates through the direct vote of all members. This has created great waves.
The change, although attractive, is debatable from several points of view. First and foremost, it is risky to start such a reform, which also involves convening a congress, on the brink of elections. The inherent tensions destabilize a party that does not excel in terms of discipline anyway.
Moreover, this type of vote is not necessarily the answer to political issues. For example, if the vote of all PLUS members had strictly applied, 5 years ago, Dragoș Tudorache would not have received an eligible position on the list for the 2019 European Parliament elections.
He was not well-known enough, not popular enough within the party. But it turned out that Dragoș Tudorache was one of the most valuable Romanian MEPs, the one about whom The Washington Post wrote that he is the brightest mind in the field of artificial intelligence regulation.
So, a certain weighting of members' votes based on competence criteria is desirable.
But what happened in USR Bucharest is not that. I am not discussing here either the order on the lists or the political suitability of the candidates, whether they are new or old. From this point of view, each party develops its own strategy and is accountable for it.
Let's discuss the principle.
The first place in the Senate, not only 100% eligible but also symbolic, is occupied by Clotilde Armand, until October the mayor of Sector 1 of the Capital.
Ms. Armand has multiple legal issues. She has been declared incompatible by ANI and lost in the first instance the trial contesting the Integrity Agency's report. She has been indicted by the Prosecution Office for the offense of using her position to favor certain individuals. Acts committed during her term as mayor.
Of course, Ms. Armand has the right to the presumption of innocence. Of course, at the end of both cases, she may prevail. But at this moment, she is what USR used to call its political opponents, "penal".
And her public defense, as a "penal," has used the same style and arguments as the "penals" of PSD or PNL.
Then, we remember how Dan Voiculescu's file was shuttled between the High Court of Cassation and Justice and the ICCJ depending on whether Mr. Voiculescu was a parliamentarian or not. And with each move, the file started over at the other court.
I am not claiming that Ms. Armand has this plan and that this is the reason for her candidacy, but certainly, the effect will be the transfer of her criminal case from the Sector 1 Court (hearing on 09/19) to the ICCJ.
As an irony, the Senate, where Ms. Armand has a guaranteed seat, is the decision-making chamber for everything related to the organization of justice.
Some of the "penals" among the opponents have been acquitted or have won cases against ANI, some have returned to politics, even stronger, others have not, but in all cases, USR has proclaimed the principle, rightly so, that until the suspicion of committing an offense in the exercise of a public function is clarified, a new candidacy is not admissible.
Now, it has become admissible. And not just now. Even the leader of USR Bucharest, Vlad Voiculescu, ran for the European Parliament elections while being a suspect in the vaccine case, after a victimization copied from the old PSD manual.
Of course, for the party's hardcore supporters, these things don't matter, the party line is followed and propagated exactly. But for the electorate that USR could reach and should reach to become relevant again, the abandonment of principles and double standards matter. How much, we saw on June 9.