Mayoral elections in two rounds in Romania

The Liberal Government in Bucharest wants to assume responsibility for the election of mayors in two rounds

Roxana Vasile, 17.01.2020, 13:50

The Liberal
Government in Bucharest has made a decision that might completely change the
political circumstances of a year in which local and parliamentary elections
are due in Romania. Thursday’s decision to take responsibility for the election
of mayors in two rounds was explained by prime-minister Ludovic Orban with the
need to render mayors more legitimate, in order for them to be able to
implement development plans in the communities they represent.

Ludovic Orban: We
must take this risk, because the Government has the obligation to intervene there
where things are not functioning properly and to improve all democratic
mechanisms.

What is curious
is that mayoral elections in just one round was something that the very
Liberals wanted back in 2011, while the Social – Democrats opposed the idea, and
now no longer want to go back to the two-round electoral system. So, the Social Democratic Party, now in
opposition, has announced it counts on the support of the Democratic Union of
Ethnic Hungarians in Romania to file a motion of no-confidence. Paradoxically,
the fall of the Liberal Government might benefit the very National Liberal
Party, who would like to organize early parliamentary elections in spring.

To
the Liberals, such early elections, corroborated with two rounds for mayoral
elections, would bring a clear political advantage, adding to the victories
obtained in the European Parliament and presidential elections. On the other
hand, local elections in just one round and the organization of parliamentary
elections in autumn, would give the Social Democratic Party enough time to
recover after last year’s failures and to keep more representatives in various
leadership structures. So, the interim president of the party, Marcel Ciolacu,
has tried to throw a wet blanket on the Liberals:

Marcel Ciolacu: I’m
telling you, this motion will pass. I am firmly convinced that speculations
will rise, about early elections, but there will be no early elections, and we
will prove we have the capacity to create a new parliamentary majority.

The Social
Democratic Party has stressed the fact that there are rulings by the
Constitutional Court and recommendations made by the Venice Commission,
according to which electoral legislation must not be changed six months prior
to elections. Also, at the request of the Social Democratic Party, the
Monitoring Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has
approved the procedure of investigating Romania with regard to the observance
of democratic norms in relation to the Orban Government assuming responsibility
for amending the legislation on local elections.

The People’s Movement Party
has stated that assuming responsibility for the election of mayors in two
rounds is a brave endeavor, which it will support in Parliament, and the Save
Romania Union has too hailed Ludovic Orban’s decision. The Alliance of Liberals
and Democrats supports mayoral elections in two rounds, but has drawn attention
to the fact that, by assuming responsibility for that, the Government actually
pushes for early elections, which would affect Romania’s stability.