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| THE RACE FOR THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 08/05/2009 |
| (2009-05-08) |
| Last updated: 2009-05-11 13:57 EET |
Friday saw the start of the campaign for the June 7th European Parliament elections. Romanians are called to the polls to vote for the 33 deputies who will represent them in the European Parliament. These are not the first euro-elections in Romania’s history. Romania joined the EU on January 1st 2007, and in the summer of the same year elections were held to designate euro MPs for Brussels and Strasbourg, who had “part time” mandates of less than two years.
However, these elections are the first to be held simultaneously in all EU member states and the first ones that will give future MEPs a full 5-year term. Running in the race are 6 parties, a political alliance, and two independent candidates. The political choices are rich and, at least formally, it mirrors the big ideological families of the European Parliament. The moderate right is best represented. On the right wing lane are running three parties affiliated to the European People’s Party: the pro-presidential, governing Liberal Democratic Party, the opposition Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania and the Christian Democratic National Peasant Party (the first Romanian party to join the European People’s Party, which has not made it to Romania’s Parliament for more than a decade).
Representing the European Socialists in the euro-elections is the alliance between the Social Democratic Party (in the governing coalition alongside the Liberal Democrats) and the hardly noticeable Conservative Party, maybe the only so-called leftist Conservatives in Europe. The Alliance of the European Democrats and Liberals is represented by the National Liberal Party, now in opposition after having governed the country between 2004 and 2008. With unclearly defined doctrines, the populist Greater Romania Party and the newly emerged Civic Force party are the only parties with no European affiliations. Running as independents are retired general Pavel Abraham, the former head of the drug squad of the Romanian Police and the younger daughter of President Basescu, Elena Basescu.
Polling institutions place on the top position in these elections either the Liberal Democratic Party or the Social Democratic Party, with almost 30%. The Liberals come 3rd with a little under 20%. The electoral threshold of 5% was crossed only by the Greater Romania Party and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania. Surveys only seem to concur as regards the rate of absenteeism, which might reach 70-75%, against the backdrop of Romanians’ skyrocketing disinterest for politics and politicians.
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