Radio România Internațional

Tag: voter turnout

  • Romanians abroad and the European election

    Romanians abroad and the European election

    The Foreign
    Ministry in Bucharest has published the Handbook of the Romanian Voter Abroad
    in the run-up to the European Parliament election on May 26. The document seeks
    to provide accurate information to Romanians abroad over the ways they can cast
    their votes in the election. The handbook includes information regarding people
    with voting rights, the documents based on which they can vote abroad and the
    voting procedure. Romanians outside the country’s borders on election day can
    vote in any polling station set up abroad. Under the legislation in force, the
    list of polling stations will be published on the webpage of the Foreign
    Ministry and on the webpages of Romania’s diplomatic missions and consular
    offices by April 27 at the latest. Romanians who vote abroad will be included
    on the lists of additional voters. Also worth mentioning is that polling
    stations abroad will not include mobile ballot boxes, while voters will not be
    able to vote based on their travel or voter cards. Moreover, postal voting will
    be ineligible in next month’s election. The handbook is available on the
    Ministry webpage in the European Parliament election section. The Foreign
    Ministry recalls that, to be able to vote, Romanian citizens must present a
    valid Romanian ID. Furthermore, the Ministry
    recommends Romanians abroad to check for updated information on its website in
    the European Parliament election section. For instance, in Italy, currently
    home to the biggest Romanian community totaling some 1.2 million people, there
    will be 70 polling stations, Romania’s Ambassador to Rome, George Bologan has
    announced:


    When organizing the election we’ve taken several factors under
    advisement, from comparative voter turnout statistics of previous years and the
    interest voiced by the Romanian community, to the flow dynamics of Romanians in
    various communities or regions as well as human and financial resources and
    logistics. On May 26 Italy will also be organizing local elections in certain
    regions.


    The upcoming
    European Parliament election are crucial for the future of the EU and its
    members. At present there are 751 MEPs elected by citizens in 28 Member States.
    If Britain leaves before May 23, Great Britain will not take part in the vote
    and the number of MEPs will drop to 705. Romania is expected to have 33 MEPs in
    the new Parliament, one more compared to the 2014-2019 tenure.

  • The elections in France – what is at stake?

    The elections in France – what is at stake?

    Centrist Emmanuel Macron, leader of the En Marche! movement, set up only a year ago, and Marine Le Pen, the representative of the far-right National Front, face off in the second round of elections in France for the presidency. Analysts provide a simple explanation for this: a confused election campaign in a country where the traditional political parties don’t fare that well, at a time when the Western world undergoes profound changes, where institutions are at a disadvantage in terms of political evolutions and the evolution of society.



    Shortly after finding out the results of the first round of the presidential elections, Emmanuel Macron said that he wanted to build a governing majority to change things. He said it would be made up of new faces and new talent, with opening towards anyone. He said that he would not ask where people are from, but if they agree to refresh political life, securing a decent life for the French people, allowing everyone to progress in society, irrespective of their place of origin, if they agree to the idea of a European construction.



    Marine Le Pen, who opposes a united Europe, continued their election campaign by telling French voters that they are faced with a historic opportunity. The stakes of this election, she says, is globalization without rules, which endangers civilization. The French have a simple choice, she said, to either continue on the same path, without borders and without protection, the consequence being outsourcing jobs, unfair international competition, mass migration, and the free circulation of terrorists. Her counter-proposal is protecting jobs, purchasing power, as well as national security and identity.



    Analyzing this first round of elections, Valentin Naumescu, a professor with the Babes-Bolyai University of Cluj, hailed the fact that Emmanuel Macron, the pro-European candidate, won the first round of the elections, which makes it very likely that he will become the next president of the French republic on May 7:



    “This new French presidency will still be engaged with the EU, and within the broad strokes of liberal democracy. That is the good news. If we look closer, however, we notice that the two biggest post-war parties in France, the republicans and the socialists, have lost popular support, democratic support, since for the first time in the history of the fifth republic they didn’t manage to field a candidate that makes it to the second round. This is a sign that we are witnessing a certain type of political polarization, on a new axis. So far, the axis of political polarization is center right to center left, with extremes under 10% and with insignificant center parties. Now we are seeing a spectacular shift of the political rift, between extreme parties, on the one hand, to center parties, on the other. It is a political and ideological polarization, of various sets of values, but this is a rise in extremism, in populism, in anti-European nationalist movements, be they on the left or the right, which have naturally fed a reaction from the rational, decent majority of the French democratic group. This is an unhoped for opportunity for the pro-European liberal political center to reinvent itself and to get into the competition, hopefully a winning one, against the French extreme right.



    The ascent and consolidation of extremism results in the natural reaction to mobilize the rational majority to vote, according to Valentin Naumescu:



    “I am not optimistic enough to say that the anti-European populist wave has passed. It has not, it is at the highest level in post-war Europe, but fortunately it does not have critical mass in order to win elections. This is the full part of the glass.



    According to Valentin Naumescu, this may be the most important signal sent by the presidential elections in France, the fact that a major part of French society, fortunately still in the majority, wishes to defend its values, just like the Dutch did on March 15, when the voter turnout was 83%. In the first round of elections in France, on April 23, the turnout was almost 80%. These are examples of political and civic engagement, showing that the battle is not yet lost, according to Valentin Naumescu. What is certain is the fact that, given the international context, the presidential elections in France may be the most important in the last few decades. The French are not as much electing their president, as choosing their path and that of the European Union. (Translated by C. Cotoiu)

  • The outcome of the Moldovan presidential elections

    The outcome of the Moldovan presidential elections

    Confirming early opinion polls, the leader of the pro-Russian socialists, Igor Dodon won the first round of Sunday’s presidential elections in the Republic of Moldova, a former Romanian province with a mostly Romanian speaking population. Less predictable was, however, the 10% difference between Dodon and his contender, the pro-Western Maia Sandu. Soon after the voting ended, Igor Dodon has said: “This election has clearly proven that the leader of the socialist opposition enjoys most of Moldovans’ trust.”



    In turn, Maia Sandu, a former education minister, has made no effort to hide her satisfaction at a second round of voting being held: “I believe that today we can celebrate a first victory. We have taken a first step towards a dignified life that we all have the right to, here, in the Republic of Moldova.”



    Most commentators believe that two intense weeks will follow, during which the two candidates will have to make sure they can further enjoy the support of their electorate and, if possible, increase their number of voters. From this viewpoint, commentators say Maia Sandu stands good chances to win over more supporters. Of the seven presidential candidates eliminated from the race after the first round, there is only one, Dmitri Ciubasenco that shares Dodon’s pro-Russian views. All others are supporters of a pro-Western stand. That is why it is expected that promoters of Moldova’s reunification with Romania, such as Mihai Ghimpu and Ana Gutu as well as the former PM Iurie Leanca, who had signed, two years before, the Moldova-EU association and free trade agreement, should urge their supporters to vote Maia Sandu in the second round.



    According to sociologists, Maia Sandu has to convince young people to go to the polls. In the first round, more than half of the potential voters showed no interest in the election, although it was the first time in the past 20 years when citizens had the chance to vote the head of state directly, instead of being nominated by parliament. The voter turnout rate was 49%, the lowest in the country’s history. Almost 30% of voters, who feel closer to Moscow, were aged 56 to 70, while the young people aged 18 to 25, supporting Western values, represented only 10% of the voters. Radio Romania correspondents in Chisinau quoted pundits as saying that the low voter turnout has been triggered by the citizens’ disappointment at the situation in their country.



    The second round of voting is decisive not only in political terms but also in geopolitical terms. The victory of Dodon, an anti-Romanian and anti-European politician, guided by Moscow, would bury Moldova’s European aspirations indefinitely and fulfil his wish to integrate the country in the Russia-Belarus –Kazakhstan Union. This would make useless the 7-year long efforts deployed by pro-European forces that have been ruling the country since 2009, to take Chisinau out of Moscow’s orbit and get it closer to Europe.


    (Translated by Elena Enache)