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| INTENSE POLLING DAY IN ROMANIA (26.11.2007) |
| (2007-11-26) |
| Last updated: 2007-11-27 17:40 EET |
The dominant ideology among Romanian voters is no longer socialist, liberal or popular, the recent trend being “absenteeism”, which also occurred in the new EU member states. Two thirds of Romanian voters on Sunday boycotted the first euro- elections in the their country’s history. Three thirds did not vote in the referendum initiated by President Traian Basescu for the introduction of the uninominal voting system in two rounds for the domestic parliamentary elections. Those who went to the polls though cast a predictable vote, confirming the results of previous opinion surveys. First ranking is the pro-presidential, opposition Democratic Party, which with 30% won 11 of the 35 seats Romania is entitled to in the European Parliament. The Democratic leader Emil Boc admits that the Democrats have won thanks to the popularity enjoyed by President Traian Basescu, the former president of the Democratic Party.
“The Democratic Party has remained faithful to the principles and values promoted by the “Truth and Justice Alliance” and has always shown solidarity with Romania’s President Traian Basescu in achieving the political objectives set for 2004”.
With 22% and 7 seats in the European Parliament, the Social-Democratic opposition follows the Democratic Party in the classification. The Social Democratic president, Mircea Geoana, has continued the election campaign even after polling stations closed.
“The low turn out represents the silent response of most Romanians to the prolonged political crisis in this country and to the deterioration of living standards and purchasing power after three years of right wing governance”.
The head of the ring wing government was very happy with the results of the elections. With 15% and 5 seats in the European Parliament, the National Liberal Party has managed to exceed all expectations. This is what PM Calin Popescu Tariceanu said on Sunday evening:
“We have proved that Romanians trust us and our projects. For European Romania it is therefore a successful evening of victory and celebration. Today Romanians have given the National Liberal Party a vote of confidence”.
Other groups that managed to cross the 5% electoral threshold were the pro-Basescu Liberal Democratic Party, which got an unexpected 8% and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania (in the ruling coalition) with 6 %. For the rest, the euro-elections point to the political failure of two populist parties; the New Generation Party with a little less under 5% and the Greater Romania Party with about 3%. As to the referendum, the participation of only 25% of Romanians, that is half of the needed number of voters, makes it legally invalid. President Basescu says, however, that the results of the referendum should be taken into consideration by parties, which should consider agreeing to a majority uninominal voting system:
“Of the almost 5 million people who went to the polls, 89% voted for the introduction of the majority uninominal voting system. I’d say that these people do not want to find middle ground. They cast a determined vote for the majority uninominal voting system in two rounds. They want to know for sure their deputy and senator”.
Political analyst Cristian Parvulescu believes that the low turn out consolidates the position of those who actually reject this voting system:
“Despite what President Basescu says, the low turn out somehow eases the moral or political pressure exerted on political parties. It will consolidate the position of those parties that will be opposed to any change of the electoral system. That is why I believe it would be realistic to consider that no change will be made to the electoral system in Romania for the future parliamentary elections in 2008 or 2009.”
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2025-04-05
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