Radio România Internațional

Tag: Bucharest City Hall

  • Referendum for Bucharest

    Referendum for Bucharest

    On November 24, on the day of the first round of the presidential election in Romania, the citizens of Bucharest were called to the polls also in a referendum initiated by the general mayor Nicuşor Dan. Those registered on the electoral lists had to answer two questions proposed by the mayor and a third one proposed by the Social Democratic Party – PSD (in the governing coalition). The first question was whether the citizens agree with the general mayor of Bucharest issuing the construction permits for the entire city of Bucharest, the second asked the citizens if the distribution of income taxes and local taxes and fees collected from the citizens of Bucharest should be approved by the General Council of the City of Bucharest? And the last question was whether the people of Bucharest want the municipality to deal with the prevention of drug use in schools. According to the data provided by the Permanent Electoral Authority, 731,990 citizens voted in the referendum, i.e. 40.96% of the number of those registered on the electoral lists. The referendum therefore passed the validation threshold of 30% and obtained a majority vote in favor of the three proposals.

     

    According to the CURS survey, 97% of the voters said YES for the centralization of building permits in Bucharest, 64% agreed with the second question and 82% voted for the program to prevent the consumption of drugs in schools. The vote must be confirmed by Parliament. “I want to thank the citizens of Bucharest who came in such large numbers to the referendum, I thank them for understanding the huge stakes for the city of this democratic exercise”, the general mayor Nicușor Dan stated, in a press conference. He said that, through their will, the city is returning to normality and reason, which was corrupted by the political games made 20 years ago, which led to chaos in town planning.

     

    At the same time, the general mayor warned the citizens of Bucharest that the big works that the city needs require time for administrative procedures. The general mayor, Nicușor Dan, also stated, after finding the results, that the political parties cannot ignore the will of 500,000 Bucharest residents and asked for their will to be transposed into legislation: “In the debate that we will have in a few weeks on the national budget law, the result of the referendum should be included. In the debate that we will have in the first half of 2025 on the Urban Planning Code, the result of the referendum should also be included, and the Fiscal Code should be amended according to the result of the referendum in the first half of 2025”.

     

    He also added that, after the local referendum, the money will be better distributed, and in terms of urban planning, authorizations will be issued legally. (LS)

  • Romania after the local and European Parliament elections

    Romania after the local and European Parliament elections

    Romanian voters passed the most important test, that of their turnout, in the first episode of this year’s election marathon: over 9.4 million Romanians voted in Sunday’s ballot for the European Parliament and around 9 million in the local elections, which raised total turnout above 50%. According to data presented by the Central Electoral Bureau, most voters are aged 45-64, the fewest aged 18-24, while women voted in greater numbers than men. The parties of the ruling coalition, the Social-Democratic Party (PSD) and the National Liberal Party (PNL), advanced joint lists for the European Parliament, which were voted by over half of citizens who hit the polls. The alliance of Romania’s largest traditional parties is followed, at a great distance, by the ultra-nationalist sovereigntists from the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) and the United Right Alliance, created around the Save Romania Union (USR). The Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians (UDMR) was the last political party to secure representation in the upcoming European Parliament. The vote across the country confirms the supremacy of PSD and PNL, who secured most county councils. They are followed, still at a great distance, by AUR and the United Right.

     

     

     

    In a landscape clearly dominated by mainstream parties, Bucharest continues to stand apart. The race for the mayor general’s office was won by the incumbent mayor, the independent candidate Nicuşor Dan, with over 40% of the vote. Social-Democrat Gabriela Firea hoped to return as Mayor General, but she lost by a great margin. Cristian Popescu Piedone also aspired to win the general mayor’s office. He lost, but attained his real goal: his party, the Social-Liberal Humanist Party (PUSL) secured representation in the Bucharest General Council, while Piedone’s son won the race for the Bucharest District 5 City Hall.  In Cluj, the Liberal Emil Boc won his 6th term in office, USR mayor Dominic Fritz secured a new mandate in Timişoara, Craiova will continue to be administered by the Social-Democrat Lia Olguţa Vasilescu, while Liberal Vergil Chițac will remain mayor of Constanţa. To a large extent, political dialogue ahead of the presidential and parliament elections slated for later this year depends on the results of the local and European Parliamentary elections.

     

     

     

    With respect to the European Parliament elections elsewhere in Europe, in ex-communist member states, the extreme right was less successful than in the West, Reuters reports. Far-right and extremist parties won the elections in France, where they caused a political earthquake, but also in Austria and Italy, and came second in Germany and the Netherlands. The Euro has already depreciated against the US Dollar, and Bloomberg says the deteriorating political climate in Europe is likely to add more pressure on the single currency. (VP)

  • Pre-election decisions

    Pre-election decisions

    With approximately two and a half months left before the European Parliament and local elections slated for June 9, the ruling PSD-PNL coalition decided to present a joint list of candidates for the European Parliament election, despite contrasting ideologies and being part of different groups in the European Parliament. For the local elections, however, PSD and PNL are looking to enroll joint candidates in certain cities. Such is the case of Bucharest, where at the end of long negotiations that seemed doomed to fail, the two parties decided to back physician Cătălin Cîrstoiu, the acting manager of the Bucharest University Hospital. Cîrstoiu will not enroll in any of the two parties but will run as an independent candidate. In an ironic twist of fate, the presidents of the Bucharest branches of PSD and PNL, Gabriela Firea and Sebastian Burduja, respectively, who had both hoped to run for Bucharest Mayor General, will content themselves in running the the election campaign for their parties in Bucharest.

     

     

    Over the next few days, the Social-Democrats and the Liberals are expected to announce their joint candidates for the six districts of Bucharest.  Political sources say the Liberals are eyeing districts 1 and 6 while the Social-Democrats will fight to secure districts 2, 3, 4 and 5. An appreciated physician and hospital manager with no political experience, Cătălin Cîrstoiu will go up against the controversial Cristian Popescu Piedone, running on behalf of the Social-Liberal Humanist Party, as well as the incumbent Bucharest Mayor Nicușor Dan, praised by some and harshly criticized by others, who has secured the support of the United Right Alliance made up of USR, PMP and the Right Force. The alliance was greenlit to field joint candidates for the June 9 election after the High Court of Cassation and Justice on Tuesday validated its format. At the end of last week, the Central Election Authority had rejected the establishment protocol of the Alliance, claiming that Cristian Diaconescu was listed as president of PMP in political registries, whereas the establishment act was signed by Eugen Tomac on behalf of the said party. The High Court’s decision corrects an inadmissible abuse for any democracy, Alliance representatives say. (VP)

     

  • A new Mayor General for Bucharest

    A new Mayor General for Bucharest

    Nicuşor Dan, the independent candidate who won the race for
    the Bucharest City Hall in the September 27 local election, backed by the
    National Liberal Party and the Save Romania Union – PLUS Alliance, this
    Thursday took over his new mandate. A well-reputed mathematician and longtime
    civic militant, Nicuşor Dan last month won a much-coveted office, which might
    also serve as a springboard for his political career. One of his predecessors, Traian Băsescu,
    would become president, while another former mayor, Victor Ciorbea, would win a
    mandate of Prime Minister. The capital city totals a tenth of Romania’s
    eligible voters. Bucharest mayors are usually invested with the largest number
    of votes, with the exception of the president. Bucharest is the richest city in
    the country, with social and economic indicators above the EU average, and with
    a constantly changing demographics. However, the outgoing mayor,
    Social-Democrat Gabriela Firea, herself a contender in the local election, has
    left behind a city suffocated by pollution, paralyzed by heavy traffic and with
    a failing heating network and deficient infrastructure. The Bucharest City Hall
    presently has some 6,000 pending litigations and a debt of over €600 million,
    which does not include the tax obligations of municipal companies, as well as
    garnishments worth some €14.5 million. The new Mayor has asked for time to
    solve all of these issues. Nicuşor Dan:


    Bucharest has an extraordinary outlook and I am certain
    we’ll succeed. In the short-term, however, I’m asking the people of Bucharest
    to show patience and solidarity, because we’re dealing with serious matters of
    urgency. We are confronted with a health crisis, with a heating crisis, and we
    also have a financial crisis on our hands at Bucharest level. Patience, and we
    will solve everything. We are a community, and it is our responsibility to
    overcome this pandemic.


    Nicuşor Dan also enjoys an excellent relationship with
    Liberal Prime Minister Ludovic Orban, and has a majority in the Bucharest
    General Council, dominated by the Liberals and the Save Romania Union-PLUS
    Alliance, that he can rely on. At district level, candidates backed by these
    parties won only three seats, while the other three went to the
    Social-Democrats. At county level, the election score was similarly tied. The
    Social-Democrats held onto their traditional centers of power in the south and
    the east, while the Liberals consolidated their influence in the west. The
    Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania won the most votes in those
    counties in central Romania where Hungarian ethnics form the majority. Voted by
    a third of people in Bucharest, the Save Romania Union-PLUS Alliance for the
    first time won the mayor races in Braşov, Alba Iulia, Bacău and Timişoara. In
    the latter case, the new mayor is Dominic Fritz, born and raised in Germany,
    who first came to Romania in 2003, when he was 20-years-old. Over half of the
    people in Timişoara have voted for him, which marks a premiere for the history
    of this city.


    (Translated by V. Palcu)