#Europeanelections2019 PRO Romania's Ponta: What's at stake on May 26 is persuading Social Democrats abandon Dragnea

PRO Romania Chairman and candidate for the European Parliament Victor Ponta told a press conference in Oradea this Tuesday that what's truly at stake in the May 26 vote is to persuade the Social Democrats to abandon party head Liviu Dragnea and mutiny against him. "I think that something more important is at play on May 26 than voting for the 32 Romanians. We give others courage too to rise against Dragnea. We must persuade those who are still staying with Dragnea and the PSD to abandon them and rise up against him. These are the big stakes of the May 26 battle," Victor Ponta told the press conference. He added that if PSD gets a poor result and PRO Romania lands a good one, on May 27 he could talk some MPs into removing Liviu Dragnea from office as Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies. When Dragnea loses his office at the Chamber of Deputies' helm, Dancila too will flee from under escort, as her predecessors Grindeanu and Tudose did, because she wouldn't want to sign the foul ordinances on justice, or on the sovereign fund, and then one can efficiently battle this mafioso system, Ponta said, arguing that this is the only chance because otherwise there is no authority to complain to, as the General Prosecutor's Office and the National Anticorruption Directorate are 'headless', and Dragnea has placed his cronies in key positions. The judges don't have the courage to make a decision and just toss Dragnea's case from the Constitutional Court to the High Court and back, said the PRO Romania leader. "We are fighting, and I hope we convince others too," Ponta said. The PRO Romania head criticized the fact that almost all state institutions have been hijacked by "Liviu Dragnea's criminal group and filled with his Teleorman minions" so that although the Social Democrats would gladly get rid of Dragnea, they shy away from action for fear of losing their means. The PRO Romania candidates for the Euro-parliamentary elections participated on Tuesday in Oradea in a meeting with over 400 members of the formation. AGERPRES (RO - author: Eugenia Pasca, editor: Marius Fratila; EN - author: Simona Klodnischi, editor: Simona Iacob)