Local elections under the sign of COVID-19

Local elections in Romania, due on September 27th, will be held under very special conditions this year, due to the coronavirus pandemic

Leyla Cheamil, 27.08.2020, 14:00

Initially scheduled for June, but postponed
because of the crisis triggered by the new coronavirus, local elections in
Romania will be held in only one round, on September 27th. In the
meantime, the mayors’ terms have been extended by half a year, and authorities
have focused on implementing measures aimed at curbing the spread of the new
coronavirus. Therefore, elections this year are to be held under the sign of
the new disease, and it will the first time that both the election campaign,
which starts on Friday, and the elections as such, are held under special
conditions.

President Klaus Ioahnnis has called on all the
candidates, but also voters, to observe the sanitary protection measures in
place, so that the elections can be held safely. Before the start of the
election campaign, the head of state insisted that it’s essential for everyone
to do everything in their power to protect democracy during this period. This is
possible, the head of state stressed, if we all follow a set of rules and measures
designed to ensure an optimal framework for carrying out electoral actions
under special conditions.

The president recalled that
precedents exist and there are countries that have organized several types of
elections during the pandemic, without this having subsequently had a negative
impact on the number of infections. Klaus Iohannis addressed candidates in
particular, urging them not to expose people to the danger of infection, because,
he said, no electoral goal is more important than health, and any violation of
the rules will have to be drastically sanctioned.

However, the head of state has acknowledged that
a zero-risk scenario does not exit, but, if all special measures are
understood, mastered and applied by both organizers and citizens, the risk can
be minimized. Elections are the foundation of democracy. Even if we live in
one of the most complicated times in Romania’s recent history, democracy cannot
be suspended or placed between the brackets, because it guarantees us all the
rights and freedoms that we enjoy, the head of state stressed.

The election campaign starts on Friday, and
competition is fierce, especially in the capital and in the big cities, and the
politicians make calculations and think of strategies to attract as
many votes as possible and thus reach their goals. They are competing for 41
offices of county council president, more than 1,300 county councilor and
40,000 local councilor seats, and approximately 3,200 mayoral positions.

The most
important battle is for the seat of mayor of Bucharest, where there are no less
than 18 candidates, four of whom are independent. The favourites are the
current Social Democrat mayor Gabriela Firea and Nicusor Dan, an independent candidate
supported by the governing National Liberal Party and USR-PLUS. (M. Ignatescu)