Ciprian Ciucu gives a reply to Cătălin Drula: “What is my fault that he is in 4th place?” / “I am in competition with Daniel Băluță, to be very clear”

Ciprian Ciucu, the PNL candidate for the Capital City Hall, said Thursday evening on Antena 3 that he is “disappointed” by the “extremely rude” manner in which Cătălin Drula, his opponent from the USR, spoke after the appearance of the INSCOP poll.

The survey was published on Thursday and places Ciprian Ciucu at the head of the electoral race in Bucharest, with a score of 27.1%. Cătălin Drula, who was 4th with 11.6%, had a vehement reaction after the poll appeared, accusing his liberal opponent of trying to manipulate the electorate with sociological research.

“I don't understand why he got angry with me, because it's not a survey of the National Liberal Party. (…). We always when we commissioned a survey, we put it “at the command of the PNL” – and we have two, which are quite similar to this one, which were commissioned in the last two months. So I don't understand why he targeted me, I mean here I really can't understand. It's good that I didn't react immediately, because the tendency was to escalate a little this discussion”, declared Ciprian Ciucu on Antena 3 on Thursday evening.

The PNL candidate claims he has “no connection” with INSCOP Research or this survey.

“My party has made mistakes in the past with polls. Various polls have been published. Since Ilie Bolojan came as the president of the party, we do not lie with polls. This practice is a thing of the past, because it is about our long-term credibility. We usually work with those houses whose results have been confirmed every election,” added the PNL first vice-president.

“I am in competition with Daniel Băluță, to be very, very clear”

Asked if he and Drula are fighting for the same electoral pool, Ciucu said: “More or less. Yes, it's true that there are a lot of USR sympathizers who vote for me, but I'm also voted for by a lot of people who vote for PSD, obviously, the liberal electorate, which votes for me, so that's probably where it comes from, against the background of frustration because he seems to be capped somewhere at, I don't know, 12%-13%, in 4th place.”

“Maybe that's how I can understand his reaction, because otherwise I can't understand it, I mean, what's my fault that he's in 4th place? I don't know what's my fault, that I didn't do that survey,” continued the PNL candidate.

Ciprian Ciucu claims that he wanted to avoid “such a blunt dialogue” with Cătălin Drula.

“Mr. Drula's reaction is exaggerated, much, much exaggerated. The tone is extremely rude. The way he addresses and speaks disappoints me, honestly, I mean I didn't expect such an attack,” he added.

The liberal suggested that the electoral battle will be between him and the PSD candidate.

“I am in competition with Daniel Băluță, to be very, very clear”, Ciucu also declared.