The epidemiological situation created by
\nthe novel coronavirus has altered the elections calendar in Romania, so the
\nlocal elections, which were initially scheduled for June, were held at the end
\nof September. 48% of voters took part in the ballot and the Permanent Election
\nAuthority has now published on its website the final results, with the
\nexception of localities where a new ballot will be held. A map of results shows
\nthat the biggest opposition party, the Social Democratic Party, won 20 county
\ncouncil seats, the ruling National Liberal Party 17 and the Democratic Union of
\nEthnic Hungarians in Romania 4. The Liberals won, however, more votes overall,
\nnamely 34%. The Social Democrats won 30% and USR-PLUS 13%. The candidates
\nsupported by the centre-right alliance won the position of Bucharest mayor and three
\nof the capital city’s six sectors, but the Social Democrats have more mayors
\ncountrywide.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The results of the local elections are
\nseen as a barometer for the upcoming parliamentary elections scheduled on 6th December.
\nHowever, a bill has been submitted to postpone these elections for next year,
\nin March. The bill was initiated by an independent MP and for now has been
\nsubmitted for an opinion to the government’s legislative council and social and
\neconomic council. A reply is expected within 30 days at the latest. The idea to
\npostpone the elections is opposed by the Liberals, who are saying that the
\ncurrent Parliament, where the Social Democrats have a majority, no longer
\nrepresents people’s will. The Social Democrats say they are preparing for elections
\non 6th December, but they are not ruling out a postponement
\ndepending on the evolution of the pandemic. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, political parties have begun
\ndrawing up the lists of candidates for the diaspora, for which the deadline is
\n7th October. The Liberals say for these lists they are
\nconsidering exclusively candidates from among the diaspora who have made their
\ncommunities proud, whether university professors or business people. The Social
\nDemocratic Party also has a number of criteria for its diaspora candidates,
\nwhich include communication skills, intellectual abilities, media exposure,
\nintegrity and leadership. The parliamentary elections will be held in the
\ndiaspora over the course of two days, on 5th and 6th December.
\nGiven that setting up polling stations in a number of countries with large
\nethnic Romanian communities will not be possible because of the coronavirus
\npandemic, the authorities in Bucharest are recommending Romanians living abroad
\nto register for vote by mail. The registration deadline has been extended until
\n21st October.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
With final results of local elections made public, Romania prepares for parliamentary elections on 6th December.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":108,"featured_media":86794,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[30247],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-86793","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-elections"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n