The Liberal
\nGovernment in Bucharest has made a decision that might completely change the
\npolitical circumstances of a year in which local and parliamentary elections
\nare due in Romania. Thursday’s decision to take responsibility for the election
\nof mayors in two rounds was explained by prime-minister Ludovic Orban with the
\nneed to render mayors more legitimate, in order for them to be able to
\nimplement development plans in the communities they represent.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Ludovic Orban: We
\nmust take this risk, because the Government has the obligation to intervene there
\nwhere things are not functioning properly and to improve all democratic
\nmechanisms.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
What is curious
\nis that mayoral elections in just one round was something that the very
\nLiberals wanted back in 2011, while the Social – Democrats opposed the idea, and
\nnow no longer want to go back to the two-round electoral system. So, the Social Democratic Party, now in
\nopposition, has announced it counts on the support of the Democratic Union of
\nEthnic Hungarians in Romania to file a motion of no-confidence. Paradoxically,
\nthe fall of the Liberal Government might benefit the very National Liberal
\nParty, who would like to organize early parliamentary elections in spring. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
To
\nthe Liberals, such early elections, corroborated with two rounds for mayoral
\nelections, would bring a clear political advantage, adding to the victories
\nobtained in the European Parliament and presidential elections. On the other
\nhand, local elections in just one round and the organization of parliamentary
\nelections in autumn, would give the Social Democratic Party enough time to
\nrecover after last year’s failures and to keep more representatives in various
\nleadership structures. So, the interim president of the party, Marcel Ciolacu,
\nhas tried to throw a wet blanket on the Liberals:<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Marcel Ciolacu: I’m
\ntelling you, this motion will pass. I am firmly convinced that speculations
\nwill rise, about early elections, but there will be no early elections, and we
\nwill prove we have the capacity to create a new parliamentary majority.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Social
\nDemocratic Party has stressed the fact that there are rulings by the
\nConstitutional Court and recommendations made by the Venice Commission,
\naccording to which electoral legislation must not be changed six months prior
\nto elections. Also, at the request of the Social Democratic Party, the
\nMonitoring Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has
\napproved the procedure of investigating Romania with regard to the observance
\nof democratic norms in relation to the Orban Government assuming responsibility
\nfor amending the legislation on local elections. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The People’s Movement Party
\nhas stated that assuming responsibility for the election of mayors in two
\nrounds is a brave endeavor, which it will support in Parliament, and the Save
\nRomania Union has too hailed Ludovic Orban’s decision. The Alliance of Liberals
\nand Democrats supports mayoral elections in two rounds, but has drawn attention
\nto the fact that, by assuming responsibility for that, the Government actually
\npushes for early elections, which would affect Romania’s stability. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Liberal Government in Bucharest wants to assume responsibility for the election of mayors in two rounds<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":109,"featured_media":66207,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-84344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n