Party of Liberty, Unity and Solidarity
Partidul Libertate, Unitate și Solidaritate
AbbreviationPLUS
PresidentDacian Cioloș
Founded15 December 2018
Dissolved16 April 2021
Merged intoUSR
HeadquartersStrada Finlanda, 15, Bucharest
Ideology
Political positionCentre
National affiliation2020 USR-PLUS Alliance (2019–2021)
European Parliament groupRenew Europe
Colors  Orange
Website
www.ro.plus

The Party of Liberty, Unity and Solidarity (Romanian: Partidul Libertate, Unitate și Solidaritate, PLUS) was a pro-European, liberal[1] political party established on 26 October 2018,[2][3] whose president was Dacian Cioloș, former Prime Minister of Romania from 2015 until 2017, elected on 26 January 2019.[4] The party had its origin in the Movement Romania Together (MRÎ), a project which they gave up due to the setting up delay in court.[5] The party merged in 2021 with the Save Romania Union (USR) with which it has been in a political alliance called 2020 USR-PLUS Alliance from 2019 to 2021, then formally activating as a sole, unified party known as USR PLUS (subsequently renamed back to Save Romania Union or USR for short).[6][7]

History

Dacian Cioloș, president of PLUS in July 2019

On 30 March 2018, former Prime Minister of Romania Dacian Cioloș announced his plans to establish a new political party, the Romania Together Movement (Mișcarea România Împreună), together with some of the former members of the Cioloș Cabinet, such as Dragoș Pîslaru, Vlad Voiculescu, Alin Mituța, Dragoș Tudorache, and Anca Dragu.[8] Despite the party gaining notoriety in the subsequent months and appearing in various opinion polls,[9][10][11] its official registration was never finalized due to various appeals and delays in the legal process, which Cioloș claimed to be politically motivated.[12]

After almost 9 months, on 15 December, Cioloș announced in Cluj-Napoca that the Freedom, Unity and Solidarity Party (Partidul Libertății, Unității și Solidarității, PLUS) was registered by three of his colleagues, "who share the same values, the same principles, anonymous people, but who wanted to offer a helping hand". He also claimed that the former effort, the Romania Together Movement, will be abandoned and that he and his team will focus on the development of PLUS. After the announcement, more than 7,500 people requested to join the party in 24 hours.[13]

The first National Convention of PLUS, which had the role of electing the president and the National Council of the organization, took place in Bucharest on 26 January 2019. Dacian Cioloș was elected president with 99.17% of the votes.[14] Having previously announced his intention to participate in the European Parliament elections,[15] Cioloș was also chosen to lead the PLUS list for the elections.[16]

MEP Cristian Preda announced on 29 January that he is joining PLUS, allowing the party to have delegates in all polling stations.[17]

On the evening of 2 February 2019, it was announced on Facebook that PLUS and the Save Romania Union (USR) established the 2020 USR-PLUS Alliance, which will participate in the 2019 European Parliament elections.[18]

While the party was not a member of Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party (ALDE), all its MEPs were individual members of this European political party.[19]

Ideology

PLUS has not defined its ideology clearly. However, a manifesto was published on the party's website[20] expressing support for liberty, social justice, transparency in public administration, as well as commitment to Romania's EU and NATO membership. Cioloș, the party's president, claimed in an interview that PLUS is situated in "the centre, centre-right area".[21]

Electoral history

Legislative elections

Election Chamber Senate Position Aftermath
Votes % Seats Votes % Seats
2016 did not exist
0 / 329
 did not exist
0 / 136
 – Extra-parliamentary opposition to PSD-ALDE government (2018–2019)
Extra-parliamentary opposition to PSD minority government (2019)
Extra-parliamentary support for PNL minority government (2019–2020)
2020 906,962 15.37
17 / 330
 936,862 15.86
8 / 136
  3rd 
(within USR PLUS)		 PNL-USR PLUS-UDMR government (2020–2021)
Merged with USR (April 2021)

Local elections

Election County Councilors (CJ) Mayors Local Councilors (CL) Popular vote  % Position
Votes % Seats Votes % Seats Votes % Seats
2020 478,659 6.65
29 / 1,340
 490,362 6.58
8 / 3,176
 504,563 6.85
351 / 39,900
 696,478 8.89  3rd 
(within USR PLUS)

Presidential elections

Election Candidate First round Second round
Votes Percentage Position Votes Percentage Position
2019 Dan Barna11,384,450
15.02%
 3rd not qualified

Notes:

1 Dan Barna was the candidate endorsed by the 2020 USR-PLUS Alliance.

European elections

ElectionVotes %MEPsPositionEU PartyEP Group
2019 2,028,236 22.36
4 / 32
  3rd 
(within USR-PLUS)1		 ALDE party[lower-alpha 1][19] Renew Europe (RE)

Notes:

1 2020 USR-PLUS Alliance members: USR (4 MEPs) and PLUS.

Notes

  1. ↑ Dacian Cioloş, Dragoş Nicolae Pîslaru, Ioan Dragoş Tudorache, and Ramona Victoria Strugariu as ALDE individual members

References

  1. ↑ Nordsieck, Wolfram (2020). "Romania". Parties and Elections in Europe. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  2. ↑ "Tribunalul BUCUREŞTI - Informaţii dosar". Portal.just.ro. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
  3. ↑ V. M., I. R. (December 15, 2018). "VIDEO Dacian Cioloș anunță că are un nou partid. Se numește Partidul Libertății, Unității și Solidarității - PLUS / Cine sunt fondatorii - Politic". HotNews.ro. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
  4. ↑ "Dacian Cioloş a fost ales preşedinte al PLUS: Proiectul meu e România şi ştiu ce avem de făcut". Digi24. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
  5. ↑ Ionel Stoica. "Povestea incredibila a celor 266 de zile in care Ciolos a incercat sa isi inregistreze un partid si nu a reusit". Ziare.com. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
  6. ↑ "USR și PLUS au fuzionat. Decizia Curții de Apel București, definitivă. Noul partid se pregătește de Congres". Digi24 (in Romanian). 16 April 2021.
  7. ↑ "USR PLUS revine la denumirea de USR şi la vechea siglă". stirileprotv.ro. 3 October 2021. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
  8. ↑ "În sfârşit, Dacian Cioloş a anunţat noul partid: Mişcarea România Împreună. "După un an de zile am decis că e nevoie de mai mult decât de o mişcare civică"". adevarul.ro. Retrieved 2019-02-02.
  9. ↑ "Topul partidelor: Pe cine ar vota românii în caz de anticipate/ SONDAJ CURS pentru STIRIPESURSE.RO". Stiri pe surse. Retrieved 2019-02-02.
  10. ↑ "SONDAJ CURS - PSD se menține la un scor ridicat, PNL nu sparge bariera. Surpriza Victor Ponta și dezamăgirea ALDE". Stiri pe surse. Retrieved 2019-02-02.
  11. ↑ "Sondaj Sociopol: PSD conduce detaşat în opţiunile românilor, iar Dacian Cioloş îl devansează pe Tăriceanu". romaniatv.net. 2018-06-14. Retrieved 2019-02-02.
  12. ↑ "Povestea incredibila a celor 266 de zile in care Ciolos a incercat sa isi inregistreze un partid si nu a reusit". Ziare.com (in Romanian). Retrieved 2019-02-02.
  13. ↑ "Dacian Cioloș, după anunțul înregistrării noului partid PLUS: "În 24 de ore am primit peste 7.500 de cereri de adeziune" - Politic - HotNews.ro". www.hotnews.ro (in Romanian). 2018-12-16. Retrieved 2019-02-02.
  14. ↑ "Dacian Cioloş a fost ales preşedinte al PLUS". adevarul.ro. Retrieved 2019-02-02.
  15. ↑ "Dacian Cioloş candidează la europarlamentare: Începem să reconstruim România. Voi munci pentru ţara mea şi acasă, şi în Parlamentul European". adevarul.ro. Retrieved 2019-02-02.
  16. ↑ "Lista finală a candidaților PLUS la europarlamentare, diferită de cea votată de membri: Dragoș Tudorache, fost ministru de Interne, pe locul 3, față de 13 cât obținuse la vot - Politic - HotNews.ro". www.hotnews.ro (in Romanian). 2019-01-28. Retrieved 2019-02-02.
  17. ↑ "Europarlamentarul Cristian Preda a aderat la PLUS: "Va avea, în consecință, delegați în toate secțiile de vot"". www.digi24.ro (in Romanian). Retrieved 2019-02-02.
  18. ↑ "Este oficial. USR si PLUS fac alianta pentru europarlamentare: S-a nascut principala forta de opozitie!". Ziare.com (in Romanian). Retrieved 2019-03-03.
  19. 1 2 "List of ALDE Party Members of the European Parliament, 2019-2024" (PDF). Authority for European Political Parties and European Political Foundations.
  20. ↑ "Manifest". plus. Retrieved 2019-02-02.
  21. ↑ "Dacian Cioloș, primul interviu după lansarea PLUS: "Domnul Dragnea n-are dreptul să arunce în aer societatea românească"". PressOne. 2018-12-17. Retrieved 2019-02-02.
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