Romania's ex-communist Social Democrats appear to have taken the lead in the general election but the shape of the next government is far from clear. Exit polls predict that the Social Democrats will get about 36% of the vote in the first such election since Romania joined the EU last year. The global economic downturn seems to have hurt the governing National Liberals which are forecast to win 20%. Its former allies, the Liberal Democrats, are said to have won 31%.
Romania's ex-communist Social Democrats appear to have taken the lead in the general election but the shape of the next government is far from clear.
Exit polls predict that the Social Democrats will get about 36% of the vote in the first such election since Romania joined the EU last year.
The global economic downturn seems to have hurt the governing National Liberals which are forecast to win 20%.
Its former allies, the Liberal Democrats, are said to have won 31%.
P.S. I'm pre-emptively outsourcing any diary requests ;-) -- as my familiarity with Romanian politics is next to zero. Somebody up to it?
No referendums are on the agenda there (but a arguably broken promise to referendum the European constitution should be noted): The ruling party promised to referendum the EU constitution, but they decided against it on the justification that the follow-up (Lisbon treaty) was not really a constitution. Everybody knows they broke the promise for another reason: It would set a "bad example" for other EU countries (i.e., the country where the treaty was signed calling in a referendum). The referendum would be expected to pass very easily (both based on the popularity of the EU and the national pride of having a treaty called "Lisbon").
The election final results will be published on Tuesday morning, but it seems that PSD-PC coalition and the PDL have similar results, 33-34% each... So no matter who wins, the key for the new government is the PNL (with 18-20%), the party from the current Prime Minister, Calin Popoescu Tariceanu. The current President, Traian Bacescu, is from the PDL.
In any case, I´m not quite sure on the influence of the crisis on the results. in fact, many people considered that the PSD would be winning the elections, so the final results, with such a little difference between PSD and PDL, is not so possitive for the PSD as it might be expected.
Electoral participation was shamefully low: national average: 36%, in Bucharest, just 30%. But with no real sense of change, no real policical views on debate, no real solutions, only the social bargains offered, higher salaries for teachers, policemen or doctors that I´m not sure can be really implemented (budgetary conceptions were not explained).
Maybe US elections are too Hollywood, too many bottled emotions and pretty scenes... But 2008 Romanian elections lack even the illusion of fresh air that we all need to feel every now and then, they were just the opposite, a bureucratic phase to be performed... As many others, you would argue, and it might be roight, but the authomatism is usually more concealed. "If you don't want a man unhappy politically, don't give him two sides to a question to worry him; give him one. Better yet, give him none." (Fahrenheit 451)
