Ruling party and Opposition accusing each other of irregularities during voting day

The first round of local elections was not without irregularities, with most complaints from both political parties and independent observers regarding the presence of electoral propaganda materials near polling places.

The Bucharest Electoral Bureau received dozens of complaints with the PSD (Social Democrat Party) and the PNL-PD (National Liberal Party – Democrat Party) Alliance accusing each other of having kept campaigning in the areas surrounding the polling places until the very last minute yesterday. The overwhelming majority of complaints was filed by PSD. Judge Petre Similean, Central Electoral Bureau (BEC) chairman, said the complaints had been forwarded to the Police for investigation, as they did not fall upon the Central Electoral Bureau.

Actually, PSD complained that groups of people it said were PD-affiliated wore T-shirts and caps displaying the PNL-PD Alliance logo and carried posters of two Alliance candidates, Traian Basescu and Anca Boagiu. This happened in the areas surrounding 60 polling places and on various streets, PSD added. At the same time, PSD said that a group of young people in front of the Patria cinema had distributed magazines that came with a Traian Basescu poster. Basing his arguments on these irregularities, PSD’s spokesman, Titus Corlatean, accused the opposition parties of resorting to an “electoral fraud strategy.” Opposition parties in their turn challenge certain actions of the rule. The Popular Action for instance, filed a complaint saying that the current 2nd District mayor Nicolae Ontanu, who is also PSD’s mayoral candidate for the District, was allegedly trying to bribe voters by offering them bags full of gifts in the Obor Market, bags that displayed the party’s electoral logo. PNL complains that the Vrancea Prefect, George Baesu, visited the polling places in the county and talked with those in charge of the respective polling places, which is prohibited by the law. The Pro Democratia Association (which monitors elections in 33 counties) also reported a series of infringements of the local elections law that consisted in electoral propaganda materials – posters and banners, displayed in close proximity of the polling places. Such complaints were filed both in Bucharest and in various towns and cities across the country.

A series of complaints filed by PSD specify that in Orastie and Alba Iulia the opposition parties, i.e. PNL and PD offered food, cigarettes and beverages to voters. Other complaints concern various candidates that allegedly promised support to voters in exchange for their votes.

The toll-free phone line opened by the Government yesterday for people to report voting process irregularities is the object of a challenge filed by PNL with the Central Electoral Bureau. The liberals, through their spokesman Eugen Nicolaescu, are asking the Central Electoral Bureau chairman Petre Similean to punish the Government as this is not part of its duties. PNL accuses the Government of intending to make it look like it “watches” over the elections to ensure they are fair but is actually engaging in image campaign actions to cover up various irregularities occurred at the voting urns. The Government dismissed the allegations saying the direct phone line was a “modern democracy instrument.” mirela.luca@zf.ro