Freedom, Unity and Solidarity Party

The Freedom, Unity and Solidarity Party (Romanian: Partidul Libertății, Unității și Solidarității, PLUS) is a pro-European, centrist political party established on October 26, 2018,[1][2] whose president is Dacian Cioloş, former prime minister of Romania, elected on January 26, 2019.[3] The party has its origin in the Movement Romania Together, a project to which they gave up due to the setting up delay in court.[4]

Freedom, Unity and Solidarity Party

Partidul Libertății, Unității și Solidarității
AbbreviationPLUS
PresidentDacian Cioloș
Founded15 December 2018
HeadquartersP-ța Pache Protopopescu nr. 9, Bucharest
IdeologyAnti-corruption
Pro-Europeanism
Liberalism
Technocracy
Political positionCentre
European Parliament groupRenew Europe
Colors     Orange
Chamber of Deputies
0 / 329
Senate
0 / 136
European Parliament
4 / 33
Mayors
0 / 3,186
County Councilors
0 / 1,434
Local Councilors
0 / 40,067
Website
www.ro.plus

History
Dacian Cioloș - president of PLUS

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.[5] Despite the party gaining notoriety in the subsequent months and appearing in various opinion polls,[6][7][8] its official registration was never finalized due to various appeals and delays in the legal process, which Cioloș claimed to be politically motivated.[9]

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.[10]

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.[11] Having previously announced his intention to participate in the European Parliament elections[12], Cioloș was also chosen to lead the PLUS list for the elections.[13]

MEP Cristian Preda announced on 29 January that he is joining PLUS, allowing the party to have delegates in all polling stations.[14]

On the evening of 2 February 2019, it was announced on Facebook that PLUS and the Save Romania Union established the 2020 USR-PLUS Alliance, which will participate in the 2019 European Parliament elections.[15]

While the party is not a member of Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party, all its MEPs are individual members of this European political party.[16]

Ideology

PLUS has not defined its ideology clearly yet. However, it has published a manifesto on their website,[17] in which it expressed its support for liberty, social justice, transparency in public administration, as well as its 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".[18]

Electoral history

Presidential elections
Election Candidate First round Second round
Votes Percentage Position Votes Percentage Position
2019 Dan Barna11,384,450
15.02%
 3rd 

Notes:

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

European elections
ElectionVotesPercentageMEPsPositionEU PartyEP Group
2019 2,028,236 22.36%
4 / 33
  3rd 
(as USR-PLUS)1		 ALDE party[lower-alpha 1][16] 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 member

References
  1. "Tribunalul BUCUREŞTI - Informaţii dosar", Portal.just.ro, retrieved March 9, 2020
  2. 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
  3. "Dacian Cioloş a fost ales preşedinte al PLUS: Proiectul meu e România şi ştiu ce avem de făcut", Digi 24, retrieved March 9, 2020
  4. 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
  5. "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.
  6. "Topul partidelor: Pe cine ar vota românii în caz de anticipate/ SONDAJ CURS pentru STIRIPESURSE.RO". Stiri pe surse. Retrieved 2019-02-02.
  7. "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.
  8. "Sondaj Sociopol: PSD conduce detaşat în opţiunile românilor, iar Dacian Cioloş îl devansează pe Tăriceanu". romaniatv.net. 2018-06-14. Retrieved 2019-02-02.
  9. "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.
  10. "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.
  11. "Dacian Cioloş a fost ales preşedinte al PLUS". adevarul.ro. Retrieved 2019-02-02.
  12. "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.
  13. "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.
  14. "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.
  15. "Este oficial. USR si PLUS fac alianta pentru europarlamentare: S-a nascut principala forta de opozitie!". Ziare.com (in Romanian). Retrieved 2019-03-03.
  16. "List of ALDE Party Members of the European Parliament, 2019-2024" (PDF). Authority for European Political Parties and European Political Foundations.
  17. "Manifest". plus. Retrieved 2019-02-02.
  18. "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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