In Romania you can create a critical mass and even win elections as an independent candidate

Martina Gancheva, BTA, 11 June 2024

In Romania you can create a critical mass and even win elections as an independent candidate. This opinion was expressed to BTA by journalist Vladimir Mitev from the Romanian section of Radio Bulgaria, who is also the founder of the Bulgarian-Romanian blog “Bridge of Friendship”. He gave the example of independent candidate Nicolae Ștefănuță, who won a seat in the new European Parliament.

Mitev also commented on the local elections in Romania, which took place on the same date as the European elections – 9 June. “The Social Democratic Party came out stronger from these elections in many places, in many county capitals in the county. They have taken over the influence at the local level from the National Liberal Party and it seems to me that the Romanian Prime Minister and Social Democrat President Marcel Ciolacu is now in a better position for any upcoming elections,” the journalist explained.

Below is the interview Vladimir Mitev gave at the BTA press club in Bucharest, as part of the “BTA 24/27 EU” event, with live coverage from 27 countries on the occasion of the European elections. “The Bridge of Friendship” reprinted it with minor changes.

Results of the June 9, 2024 local elections in Romania

On the evening of 14 June 2024 the Central Electoral Office presented the results of the local elections in Romania after more than 99% of the votes for mayors and local councils and 94% of the votes for county councils had been counted, with counting of the latter completed in 30 of the 41 constituencies.

Results for county councils

Voter turnout for county councils was 50.41%, with 5,572,474 valid votes cast, representing 94.73% of those who turned out to vote.

The census results are as follows:

• Social Democratic Party: 1 803 877 – 32.37%.
• National Liberal Party: 1 617 702 – 29.03%.
• Alliance for the Union of Romanians: 610,657 people – 10.96%.
• United Right Alliance: 479,905 people – 8.61%.
• Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania: 343 803 people – 6.17%.
• SOS Romania: 169 827 – 3.05%.

Results for county council presidents

For the election of the presidents of the county councils, after centralisation of 31 of the 41 constituencies, the total number of votes counted was 5,823,769, representing 95.51% of those who turned out to vote. The turnout was 50.70% and the results are as follows:

• Social Democratic Party: 2,107,037 – 36.18%.
• National Liberal Party: 1 767 048 – 30.34 %.
• Alliance for the Union of Romanians: 564,888 people – 9.70%.
• United Right Alliance: 487 381 people – 8.37%.
• Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania: 327 942 – 5.63%.
• SOS Romania: 184 958 – 3.18

Results of the mayoral elections

In the election of mayors, the turnout was 50.67%. The number of valid votes counted so far is 8 066 267, which represents 96.72% of those who turned out to vote.

The results announced by the BEC for the mayoral elections, broken down by party, are as follows:

• Social Democratic Party: 2 957 130 – 36.66%.
• National Liberal Party: 2 515 607 people – 31.19%.
• Alliance for the Union of Romanians: 515 220 – 6.39%.
• United Right Alliance: 420 809 people – 5.22%.
• Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania: 378 591 people – 4.69%.
• Independent candidates: 294 072 – 3.65%.

Results achieved by local councils

The turnout in local councils was 50.74%. So far, the BEC has centralised 7,918,425 votes, representing 95.99% of those who turned out to vote, of which

• Social Democratic Party (PSD): 2 736 247 – 34.56 %.
• National Liberal Party (PNL): 2 194 604 – 27.72 %.
• Alliance for the Union of Romanians: 759 502 – 9.59%.
• Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania: 458,664 – 5.79%.
• United Right Alliance: 419,169 – 5.29 %.
• PSD-PNL electoral alliance: 197,180 – 2.49%.

Mr Mitev, are the results of the European and local elections in Romania expected or surprising?

I would like to point out one or two things that surprised me positively. These have nothing to do with the big parties. What I find interesting is the fact that there is an independent candidate in the European elections who has come through and with a lot of support from young people. It is Nicolae Ștefănuță, who is a green politician. I do not remember there ever being such a case in Bulgaria – a person without the infrastructure of a party, from his own activity, from having a network, getting there to be elected as an MEP. Of course, he has a party past.. He’s been an MEP before. He has the base. But he still ran in this election without this “machinery”, as they say in Romanian about parties. The fact that you can make a critical mass in Romania and even win elections against parties that have these party structures on their side is a good sign to me that something depends on the people. A similar case is that of the mayor of Ploiesti, who also has a political background, but was elected as an independent – Mihai Polițeanu. I think these cases can be studied in Bulgaria.

Why were European themes missing during the campaign? Issues such as Schengen or the adoption of the euro were not discussed and debated.

Speaking specifically about the euro, the National Bank of Romania has long said that it is in no hurry to adopt the currency. Clearly, there are arguments to that effect. First and foremost, it wants to raise living standards. I am aware of the comments by Daniel Dăianu of the Central Bank of Romania that reforms are expected even in the euro area. So I have not heard that Romania is in a hurry to join the eurozone. But it is in a different position from Bulgaria, which has a currency board. All these factors have to be taken into account. 

And why weren’t the European themes there? They weren’t there in Bulgaria. Perhaps one answer is that our countries, our peoples feel more on the periphery of the European Union. The absorption of European funds is something that gives money, gives resources, develops regions, but it requires technocratic skills, skills of working with documents, with legal texts, with projects that are not accessible to the masses. In these elections in Romania, the aim was to communicate with the people so that they would vote en masse and that is why the messages were different.

The local and European elections in Romania were just the beginning of the race. What have the parties offered for the presidential and parliamentary elections in Romania later this year? 

The Social Democratic Party came out of these elections strengthened in many places, in many towns in the county. It is taking influence on the ground from the National Liberal Party and it seems to me that the Prime Minister of Romania and President of the Social Democratic Party, Marcel Ciolacu, is now in a better position for any upcoming elections. At the same time, everyone is looking forward to the announcement of the candidacy of the current NATO Deputy Secretary General, Mircea Geoană. He has strong international contacts. Marcel Ciolacu graduated from university at an older age. He is not exactly the kind of politician Geoană is, who is also educated and comes from an elite background. It is significant that Ciolacu is associated with Romania’s smaller towns. These are different types of politicians. But there are people from the elite behind both of them. I notice that there are people on the left who see Ciolacu as a man with potential. But even if he wins, and that is not certain, he may have to pay the price for governing now. I mean, all the money for the population that has been doled out this year is putting pressure on the budget. Whoever governs next year will have to find solutions for the deficits and debts they generate. 

Are you saying that the positions of the Social Democratic Party and Marcel Ciolacu have been strengthened? And those of the nationalists?

In recent weeks there have been reports that local party structures are leaving, I mean the nationalist party Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), because the distribution of candidates on the electoral lists did not suit them. There was a case where the party leader himself was investigated by the prosecutor’s office. There were suspicions that somehow, irregularly, signatures had been secured for Senator Diana Șoșoacă’s husband so that he could participate in the elections and get votes from her party, SOS Romania. 

So at this stage, it looks like there will be problems for the sovereigns. But there are sovereignists in every country and we see that at the European level, in Western Europe, the sovereignists are quite strong. They are part of the European landscape, whether we like it or not. 

Let’s look beyond elections. A few days ago, the Bulgarian Ambassador to Romania, Radko Vlaicov, gave an interview to one of the most important Romanian TV channels b1 and expressed his opinion that Bulgarian-Romanian relations are perhaps at their best at the moment. You conducted a study on Bulgarian-Romanian relations, which was published last year. What is your assessment?

I share the assessment that, politically, this is a good time for Romanian-Bulgarian relations. But the real challenge is not only to develop these relations when there are good international conditions to do so, but also to develop them naturally “in all seasons”. It seems to me that there is still work to be done in this respect. I think that Romanians, for example, are not very used to Bulgarians being present in their lives, in their schedules, in their business relations. There seems to be a mistrust between the two peoples. 

There may be reasons from the past. There may be inertia. All sorts of factors may legitimise this mistrust, but for me the big change in this relationship will come when people from both nations feel comfortable doing things together. That takes practice. It may take courage at times, but we have to practice this relationship and go through some trials in it. And to have a positive attitude, an open attitude. 

It seems to me that this is one of the deficits we have when we are in a peripheral European area. It’s still easier to look to the centre, it’s easier to trust someone who comes from a more internationally established country. The fact that at the moment there are good conditions and a good international context for the development of political relations is a very good thing, but there are many other things that need to happen. There is a need for more organisations and people who have the trust of both sides. They can be a means of developing relations, and not by a kind of excess, not by force, not by forcing arms, but in a dialogical, non-hegemonic way between nations. 

Photo: The electors posters of the candidates at the Romanian local and European elections, Bucharest, June 2024 (source: The Bridge of Friendship)

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