PDSR (Party of Social Democracy) and PD (Democrat Party) will fight over Bucharest City Hall during the second round of elections, as the party led by Ion Iliescu registered significant or even the highest percentages in all counties. Analysts maintain that general elections will bring the same apathy and options that characterised the locals.
In line with the partial data the Central Electoral Bureau made public yesterday afternoon, Sorin Oprescu (PDSR) got over 41 percent of votes, while Traian Basescu (PD) got 17.25 percent. Catalin Chirita (CDR-Romanian Democratic Convention) is only several decimals behind the PD candidate, with 16.99 percent. They are followed by George Padure, with 6.97 percent and Varujan Vosganian with 4.3 percent. Traian Basescu announced he would not negotiate his votes with CDR in case Chirita should succeed in outrunning him.
According to Cristian Parvulescu, absenteeism and CDR electorate’s inertia paved the way for PDSR’s victory. He states that this tendency will maintain during general elections to take place in autumn. As for elections in the Capital City, Parvulescu thinks that Traian Basescu would stand higher chances against Sorin Oprescu than Calin Catalin Chirita, in case the Transports minister qualifies for the second round. Consequently, Parvulescu does not rule out the possibility of some agreements being struck between PDSR and PD during the second round, but states that rebirth of FSN as a structure is completely ruled out. Local elections were dominated, the analyst says, by a high degree of personalisation, a fact that was illustrated by the big score obtained by the current mayors of Timisoara, Cluj, Iasi, Bacau or Brasov. This personalisation also contributed, according to Parvulescu, to the modest results registered in several cities by ApR (Alliance for Romania), which was initially credited with more options in the polls.
Sociologist Calin Anastasiu says that results registered on Sunday confirmed the rise in popularity PDSR has posted during the last two years, while those who “skipped” the ballots represent “the disappointed electorate,” the ones who voted for CDR on the previous elections. Anastasiu states that vote attendance might increase during general elections, but he does not foresee any substantial modifications in options. Elections for Bucharest City Hall have already been won by Sorin Oprescu, Anastasiu states.
Analyst Dan Pavel states that PDSR’s success is also due to the fact that this party “speculated extremely well the difficulties faced by the current coalition.” According to Pavel, the weak score CDR registered was also triggered by the Liberals’ participation on separate lists, a decision that, according to Pavel, “proved to be extremely harmful for the party, as well as for the Convention.” Pavel maintains that the statement issued by Traian Basescu, according to which he would not negotiate his votes if he doesn’t make it to the second round, can be seen as PD’s wish to keep all negotiation possibilities open. “For the time being, the Democrats are focusing their efforts on recouping ApR’s electorate,” Pavel thinks. He maintains that the fight for the position of Bucharest general mayor is not over yet, though PDSR is the most likely winner.