Victor Ponta, who served as Romania\u2019s prime minister between 2012 and 2015, announced on Wednesday, May 7, that he is founding a party under the name “Romania First.\u201d<\/p>\n
The platform will bring together PRO Romania, the party he founded after leaving the center-left Social Democratic Party, with the Romanian Ecologist Party, and other specialists and volunteers involved in his presidential election campaign. The former PM is also reportedly wooing PSD members dissatisfied with party’s current direction.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe continue the political battle on behalf of the 1,240,000 Romanians who trusted and voted on May 4 for the ‘Victor Ponta Plan to Exit the Crisis’. We are launching the Political Platform ‘Romania First’; this platform has as its political objective the defense of the rights and legitimate interests of Romanian citizens,\u201d Victor Ponta wrote in a post on Facebook.<\/p>\n
Ponta, who received over 1.2 million votes, just over 13%, in the first round of the presidential elections on May 4, also asked the two remaining presidential candidates, far-right leader George Simion and centrist Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan, to present their main governing measures. He stated that based on these announcements and projects, a public decision will be made regarding the vote in the second round.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a common duty to keep pace with the changes in Romanian society and in the world, to rebuild a professional alternative with economic and social solutions, but based on national values and the current expectations of Romanians, to combat cronyism and lack of competence that have disappointed the electorate and turned them towards extreme and populist solutions. There must no longer be pride, resentment, or personal interests that block this necessary process,\u201d Ponta emphasized.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI am not the ‘holder’ or ‘owner’ of the 1,240,000 votes; I am only indebted to these Romanians and responsible for their legitimate expectations. I will act without hesitation and with utmost determination in this regard,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n