PSD attacks USR after Clotilde Armand conviction: “It has shamelessly become the party of criminals and convicted officials”

Romania’s Social Democratic Party launched a sharp attack on USR after former Sector 1 mayor Clotilde Armand received a one-year prison sentence from the Sector 1 District Court in Bucharest.

The court postponed enforcement of the sentence, and the ruling is not final. Armand, a USR member and former mayor, was convicted of using her office to favor certain people on a continuing basis.

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It has shamelessly become the party of criminals and convicted officials in public office.

PSD said the case exposed what it called USR’s “duplicity” and “deep moral crisis.” The party also cited Dominic Fritz, USR’s president, whom it described as convicted and said had lost his mayoral mandate because of a conflict of interest.

The social democrats pointed to a resolution that USR’s National Bureau reportedly adopted unanimously during the 2024 presidential election campaign. According to PSD, the resolution concerned party members convicted at first instance, but the party leadership had not applied it to Armand or ordered her exclusion.

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USR has fallen into its own lie!

PSD also accused USR of previously demanding that politicians from other parties withdraw from office or public life before their cases had been definitively resolved. It said USR was now shielding convicted members while attacking Romania’s justice system, courts and rule of law.

Armand criticized the ruling and said the case resulted from a politically motivated action. She added that the decision currently imposed no restriction on her right to be elected or to stand as a candidate.

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I currently have no ban in force on my right to be elected or to stand as a candidate.