The Elections of May 25th

Two months ahead of the European Parliamentary elections, the main political parties in Romania have completed their party lists. The candidates proposed by major parties are generally well-known figures on the national political scene, who have held or are still holding key positions in Romanian institutions. Former ministers, current MEPs, former heads of public institutions or technocrats, they all hope to win a seat in the European Parliament, which has had a greater influence across the EU in recent years.

Florentin Căpitănescu, 20.03.2014, 13:01

Two months ahead of the European Parliamentary elections, the main political parties in Romania have completed their party lists. The candidates proposed by major parties are generally well-known figures on the national political scene, who have held or are still holding key positions in Romanian institutions. Former ministers, current MEPs, former heads of public institutions or technocrats, they all hope to win a seat in the European Parliament, which has had a greater influence across the EU in recent years.

The main political force in Romania, the alliance between the Social Democratic Party, the National Union for the Progress of Romania and the Conservative Party, with the Social Democrats playing a prominent role, is credited with 40% of the voting intentions, a recent opinion poll shows. It is followed by two centre-right opposition parties, the National Liberal Party, with 18% and the Liberal Democratic Party, with 14% respectively. Quite surprisingly, ranking fourth and fifth in terms of voters’ choice are other right-wing parties, the pro-presidential Popular Movement Party with 9% and the Civic Force with 5%, respectively.

These are followed by the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, in the ruling coalition, with some 5%, the populist Dan Diaconescu Party of the People with 4% and the non-parliamentary nationalist Greater Romania Party, with 2.5%. The poll, conducted by INSCOP, has been commissioned by the daily “Adevarul”. Concurrently with the EP elections on May the 25th, the Romanian government decided to hold partial elections, to fill the Romanian MP seats that have remained vacant, just like local authorities’ vacancies.

Minister for the relation with Parliament, Eugen Nicolicea, has said only one round of the partial elections will be held. According to the timetable established and approved by the government, the deadline for submitting candidacies is May the 5th, and the election campaign for the partial elections will kick start on May the 10th, two weeks later that the campaign for the EP elections. Pundits say that due to the double ballot, the Romanian political parties have the possibility to feel the pulse of the electorate, ahead of the truly important political race of the year- the presidential election, scheduled for November.

Political analysts also say the results obtained in May might make the object of possible agreements, so as to lay the foundations for future alliances and coalitions between different combinations. The experience of past elections proves that Romanian political actors may be extremely creative, so it is difficult to anticipate the result, even for those who are closely monitoring the Romanian political scene.