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| THE FIRST EUROPEAN ELECTION IN ROMANIA(23.08.2007) |
| (2007-08-23) |
| Last updated: 2007-08-24 15:39 EET |
“Euro-Election on November the 25th” - the front page headlines of the newspapers ROMANIA LIBERA and ZIUA read. This comes after Wednesday’s official Government announcement of the date of the first election to the European Parliament in the country's history. The date was foreseeable, because on Monday both the National Liberal Party and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania (ruling partners) and the Greater Romania Party and the Conservative Party (in opposition) seemed to agree to this date. The Social-Democrats, also in opposition, would have preferred December the 9th, since by that time, the legislature would have adopted the 2008 Budget and the electorate would have a better picture of the importance of the Euro-election. With an air of complacency brought about by its leading position in all recent opinion polls, the Democratic Party boycotted Monday's consultations, which it described as a new postponement of an issue which could have been settled as early as May the 13th. That was the initial date set for the European Parliament election, but it was dropped due to the referendum on the impeachment of President Traian Basescu. Fully aware of his mission as election organizer, Liberal PM Calin Popescu Tariceanu said:
“I think that holding the election under good conditions, and I mean not only strictly logistic conditions, but also the creation of the framework for a thorough political debate on European issues, is an important test which Romania must pass. Europe will be keeping an eye on us and I therefore want to offer assurances that the Government will take all the necessary measures for us to pass this important test with flying colours”.
By putting off the election date, the political parties have given themselves an extra half a year. However, they haven’t worked out the final lists of candidates for the 35 seats in the European Parliament due to Romania. Only the Conservative Party and the dissident Liberals grouped in the Liberal Democratic Party have their lists ready, though according to opinion polls neither has a chance to clear the 5% electoral threshold. As for the National Liberal Party, the only sure nomination is former Foreign Minister Mihai Razvan Ungureanu, whose popularity and competence won him the first place on the list.
The Social-Democrats have promised “a big surprise”, namely, a similar vote-winning personality. Abandoned by part of its electorate and running the risk of not reaching the 5% threshold, the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania is still negotiating with the ethnic Hungarian hardliners whether to add to the list the name of the most popular candidate, Reformed Bishop Laszlo Tokes. Still undecided is the list of the New Generation Party, a populist party standing a real chance to send its representatives to Strasbourg and Brussles. The nervousness of the media is enhanced by the risk that the party leader himself, the eccentric tycoon Gigi Becali, famous for his temperamental outbursts, might be at the top of the list. Against this backdrop, the leading article in the newspaper GANDUL states that, quote “for the past nine months, since Romania joined the European Union, the reforms have been halting and politics has been in turmoil”. And yet, the piece continues, quote “Europe has greatly eased the pressure on the authorities in Bucharest simply because Romania has 35 votes and the big countries sometimes need these votes”.
(Bogdan Matei)
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2025-04-03
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