USR president calls for withdrawal of party’s top candidate from 2024 EU elections

10 months ago 40

Save Romania Union (USR) Party President Cătălin Drulă called for Elena Lasconi, who had been designated at the top of the party’s list for the 2024 EU Parliament elections, to withdraw on Sunday following the controversy sparked by her statements regarding the vote in 2018 referendum on family issues.

On Sunday evening, Drulă convened the National Bureau of USR ”to formalise this decision”.

Lasconi, a former television star and current mayor of Câmpulung, was chosen by USR two weeks ago as the head of the 2024 European Parliament elections list.

During an interview at Prima TV on Saturday, she admitted to voting “yes” in the referendum for traditional family values in 2018.

“I am a Christian, I am Orthodox, and I believe that the family is formed by a woman and a man”, Lasconi said. She also mentioned that she has no issue with homosexuals as long as their relationships “do not affect those around them”.

Her statement caused a massive scandal within the USR, the only party that opposed the 2018 referendum. The referendum, initiated by the former PSD leader Liviu Dragnea, aimed to replace the phrase ”marriage between spouses” in the Constitution with a more restrictive one – “marriage is between a man and a woman”. The referendum did not pass because the 30% quorum was not reached.

“I had a discussion with Elena Lasconi, and I asked her to withdraw from the campaign for the European Parliament elections”, Cătălin Drulă said.

“I have never had anything against same-sex relationships. I have nothing against a civil legal partnership. The only sensitivity for me is the word ‘marriage’,” Lasconi responded. She added that she is not clinging to positions and lists.

She even faced criticism from her daughter, who lives in Paris and presents herself on social media as an LGBT “ally”.

“I’m pleased to learn that my mother is no longer a candidate for the European Parliament elections. One less homophobe in the European Parliament is a gain, no matter the cost”, her daughter posted on Instagram on Sunday.

(Cătălina Mihai | Euractiv.ro)