Former MEP Vlad Gheorghe has withdrawn from the race for the Bucharest City Hall and urged people to support the candidate of the National Liberal Party (PNL), district 6 mayor Ciprian Ciucu. The announcement was made in a press conference on Tuesday, December 2, alongside the latter.<\/p>\n
To motivate his decision, Gheorghe pointed at the rising score of extremist candidate Anca Alexandrescu<\/a>, although he did not name her.<\/p>\n \u201cThe extremist candidate, with ties and history in the Social Democratic Party (PSD), has real chances of becoming mayor of the capital. At this moment, the responsible thing to do is to support Ciprian Ciucu, so that Bucharest remains a bastion of democracy and does not end up in the hands of PSD extremists. I ask all those who wanted to vote for me in the December 7 elections to support Ciprian Ciucu,\u201d said Vlad Gheorghe, cited by Digi24<\/a>.<\/p>\n In turn, Ciprian Ciucu thanked<\/a> Gheorghe for his support. \u201cWe both have a clear vision for this city, one against bureaucracy, for eliminating corruption, and for bringing efficiency to the administration. What unites us are European and democratic values,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Ciucu also highlighted the current ranking in polls, according to the National Liberal Party. \u201cThe PSD candidate is stabilized in third place, the USR candidate in fourth place, with very little chance of growth, and is running a negative, divisive campaign,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Vlad Gheorghe\u2019s announcement comes just a few days before the Bucharest elections, scheduled for Sunday, December 7. Despite his announcement, Gheorghe\u2019s name will remain on the ballot.<\/p>\n Last week, Ciprian Ciucu also\u00a0received the backing<\/a> of the small center-right party Forta Dreptei, led by former prime minister Ludovic Orban, but also from the reformist party REPER.\u00a0<\/p>\n At the end of November, Vlad Gheorghe published a poll conducted by the polling firm CIRA, which ranked\u00a0the current mayor of district 4,\u00a0Daniel B\u0103lu\u021b\u0103, with 24%, followed by Ciprian Ciucu, the mayor of district 6, with 21%, and Anca Alexandrescu with 19%. Immediately after the poll was published, the former MEP appealed to the other candidates.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we don\u2019t sit at the same table, there is a major risk that PSD or AUR will take over the capital. If that happens, we are all to blame,\u201d Vlad Gheorghe wrote on his Facebook page.<\/p>\n