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)