TVR gives Simion’s reply

Romanian television firmly rejects The aliance’s accusations for the union of Romanians and the attempts to attract the institution in the electoral struggle

Gold, unhappy with TVR’s debates

In a statement issued by daily.ro, TVR presents the facts that demonstrate the professionalism and good faith of the television team that tried to organize a debate between the two candidates at the Presidency of Romania.

TVR has always acted with the strict respect of his public mission of correct and equidistant information of citizens without favoring any of the candidates. The statements that TVR would be a « campaign device » or act for the benefit of a candidate are completely false and represent a serious misinformation of public opinion.

1. When TVR launched both candidates the invitation for a common debate on May 15, Mr. George Simion’s campaign team did not communicate to the Romanian television the unavailability of the candidate for this date. The TVR statement regarding the organization of the debate on May 15 was issued after the transmission of guests to the candidates and the discussions with the representatives of both campaign teams on this topic.

2. Contrary to the statements in the gold statement, TVR proposed multiple data and hours to organize the debate, including May 14 and 16, the day after the Gold candidate announced on a television station that it will not be in the country on May 15. We did it just to show flexibility and accommodate the program of both candidates so that we give a real chance to a direct meeting between them.

Unfortunately, in the absence of a dialogue between the campaign teams of the candidates, which would result in a convenient data agreement for a face -to -face debate, TVR was informed that Mr. Nicușor Dan is available on May 15, and Mr. George Simion on May 16.
In this context, TVR had only two options. Not to organize any debate or to propose to the candidates two shows with identical format, in which each one appears alone in front of the journalists. Although it is a compromise formula, I considered that the interest of the citizens is better served by the organization of two separate debates.

3. The proposed debate format was not « changed overnight » or « tailored » for any of the candidates. On the contrary, the format includes themes and elements resulting from the consultations with both campaign teams and respects the same criteria for both candidates: identical location, identical duration, identical topics and identical rules.

4. Mr. George Simion’s campaign team was informed about the option of organizing two separate debates from the previous day, his representatives being invited to analyze and discuss the proposal before completion.

5.

6. Unfortunately, it is not the first time that Mr. George Simion refuses to participate in an electoral debate organized by TVR. The golden candidate is the only one who was missing from the debate organized by the public television before the first tour of the presidential elections, although the day before the participation had been confirmed to us. We remind that the debate was taken over by multiple national and international media organizations, was viewed by a large audience and enjoyed a wide appreciation. As today, his absence was not communicated directly to us, but through a public announcement, although the day before his participation in the debate had been confirmed by his campaign team, who also sent the names of those who were going to accompany him.

TVR reiterates that the ideal and preferred option would have been organizing a direct debate between the two candidates, but in front of the program constraints expressed by the teams of the two candidates, the solution proposed by TVR respects the international standards for such situations and ensures the equitable information of the public.