An AUR candidate for mayor withdrew at the last minute. He claims he sacrificed his time, health and “a lot of money” for the party, but he was wrong

The AUR candidate for the position of mayor of Buzău, Elena Năstăsoiu, announced her withdrawal from the electoral race along with other candidates on the list for the Local Council of the Municipality.

The announcement was made at the end of the deadline for submitting candidacies.

“I have decided with full responsibility and commitment to withdraw from the AUR and implicitly from the capacity of a candidate for the Buzău City Hall, the City Council and from the European Parliament. Recently, reprehensible acts have taken place in the Buzău AUR that show many signs of question. For more than a year, I have been leading a team of people who, through work, dedication and involvement, have shown Buzău that AUR can be a viable alternative, but an alternative supported by these people who have tried professionally, personally and socially to sacrifice the time dedicated to my child, mind, heart, health and money, a lot of money for the AUR cause that I thought was for Romanians and Romania, but I was wrong”, said Elena Năstăsoiu, in front of the Buzău City Hall.

She invoked interference from the central management in drawing up the list of candidates for the Local Municipal Council.

“The AUR central leadership asked me to lead the Buzau AUR, promising me that they would not interfere in the life of the local organization if it tried electorally and politically. I tried, I took over the organization with 29 members last year in March 2023 and today we are around of 200 dues-paying members and thousands of sympathizers and supporters. After a titanic work in which we showed the strength of the AUR municipal team, the county leadership, supported by the central one from Bucharest, trampled on our proposals for the City Council and the County Council. The announced criteria were very pompous, but nothing was respected. No meritocracy, no dedication, no involvement, and people were imposed on us who were not seen in our actions. As a leader, I cannot go forward without the people who made the municipal organization successful. I cannot accept the humiliation and lack of respect for these people,” said Elena Năstăsoiu.

A total of 18 people on the AUR list withdrew from the electoral race.

“People don’t matter, it seems only the petty interests of those who run AUR matter. (…) I prefer to hold my head high, to be proud that I don’t leave my brothers underfoot, shame on you who lie to the Romanians that GOLD is an alternative. (…) Everyone is promised positions if you work, sacrifice and give, and that’s how good people worked, sacrificed themselves. (…) I, Elena Năstăsoiu, I will no longer run for any public office, but our political projects will continue. With me are some of those who are present on the list of the City Council and who have chosen to withdraw. We are a total of 18 people from the list of 29 that we chose to take this step,” she said.

Recently, several members of the AUR Nehoiu branch left the political formation and joined PNL Buzău, citing that the organization was not represented on the list of county councilors for the June 9 elections.