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| MEDIA HEADLINES 06/06/2008 |
| (2008-06-06) |
| Last updated: 2008-06-09 14:43 EET |
The idea, unthinkable in a respectable democracy, that buying votes is cheaper than campaigning, is unfortunately a proven fact in 2008 Romania. In at least two rural communities, “money talked” in Sunday's round of the local elections. Stefanesti and Vidra - both in Ilfov County, and Iepuresti ( Giurgiu county ) all near Bucharest, have suddenly made it to the front page of central newspapers.
“The revolution of real estate suburbs” is the headline in JURNALUL NATIONAL, which adds that in Sintesti, a village in Vidra commune, just like in Stefanesti, the central electoral authority's decision to cancel elections because not all citizens were allowed to vote “was either cheered or booed, depending on who paid for the electoral feast.” “Repeat fraud in Ilfov,” ROMANIA LIBERA writes, and explains, quote, “In the 2004 elections, in Ilfov County 350 cases of carousel voting were identified.
But three years after the finding, only two people were fined, and none imprisoned, as required under the law.” (unquote) The same newspaper quotes Adrian Sorescu, an expert in electoral systems, who says that “ever since 2004, Stefanesti has been a 'hot spot' on Romanian's electoral map. What is at stake in the elections in localities near Bucharest is the real estate deals that may develop there. The Bucharest – Brasov motorway, designed to cross Stefanesti, is a relevant example.” Real estate interests aside, GANDUL daily argues that “the cancellation of elections in Stefanesti and Sintesti places the candidate of left-wing Opposition Social Democratic Party (PSD), Anghel Iordanescu, in pole-position for the leadership of the Ilfov County Council.”
The newspaper adds, with the votes in the two localities, the pro-presidential Liberal Democratic Party's candidate Cristian Radulescu would win, but with the elections cancelled, Iordanescu has 500 ballots more.” Again referring to the elections, EVENIMENTUL ZILEI writes about a alliance taking shape outside Bucharest, between the ruling national Liberal Party and the Opposition PSD, which was a mere utopia in 2004.
According to the publication, “leaders of the two parties talk openly about a future government, and in the country, Liberal and Social Democratic leaders sign one protocol after the other.” The scenario has been rehashed by Liberal vice-president Crin Antonescu and the Social Democrats' Viorel Hrebenciuc, the latter claiming that the two parties are drawing closer with “small, yet steady steps.”
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