The preliminary election results point to a PSD victory in terms of the number of mandates obtained, with more being successfully achieved than in 2000. The big cities, however, will be dominated by the PNL-PD Alliance. The current ruling party thus runs the risk of being stranded in county and local council leadership positions.
This may happen when the PNL-PD (National Liberal Party - Democrat Party) Alliance puts its votes together, possibly allowing it to overtake the PSD (Social Democrat Party).
The re-elected Bucharest Mayor and co-chairman of the Alliance, Traian Basescu, says that co-operation with PRM (Greater Romanian Party) and PUR (Romanian Humanist Party) for such local mini-parliaments is not out the question in order to block the PSD's access to decision-making positions.
The elections on Sunday have seriously shaken the traditional strongholds of the ruling party, with PSD now having to dispute a number of cities in Moldova with PNL-PD Alliance candidates. In question are the cities of Botosani, Suceava and Galati, previously dominated by the PSD. As for Bacau, Dumitru Sechelariu was five percentage points behind his PUR competitor.
Transilvania seems to have rejoined the ranks of opposition voters, with the west of the country having witnessed such tight competition between the Alliance and PSD.
The PSD thus failed to achieve one of its targets during the elections, namely to win victories in the big cities. The exception to this is Constanta, where Radu Mazare, who ran as an independent in 2000, secured the position of mayor for the PSD this time. Radu Mazare won in the first round with 63% of the vote.
Bucharest is the electoral constituency where the PSD experienced its greatest disappointment. The position of Mayor of Bucharest went to one of the party's strongest political opponents, Traian Basescu. No official Central Electoral Bureau data had been released at the time of going to press, but exit polls showed a 30% lead ahead of the PSD candidate Mircea Geoana. The situation is similar regarding the Bucharest General Council. During election night, PSD leader Adrian Nastase said nothing of the failure in Bucharest. He said that the PSD had emerged as victor in the local elections. Dan Ioan Popescu, PSD deputy leader and state minister spoke in his position as leader of the PSD's Bucharest branch. He told voters," Maybe we wasted our time studying polls and bullish forecasts, instead of talking with as many people in Bucharest, with as many average people as possible." Adopting a different tone of voice to that used by many PSD leaders in recent days, he commented, "Maybe we deluded ourselves with the idea that, on paper, we were successful in our term, while instead we should have asked you that."
Political analysts believe that, overly confident that it would win, the PSD lost in the cities it wanted to rule most through its own shortcomings. Political analyst Cristian Parvulescu says the corruption issue, the fact that people believe the current regime has done too little to eradicate it, was the most important issue in determining voting preferences. The fact that corruption is usually associated with the PSD has discouraged its voters and encouraged those of the opposition, he explained.
Stelian Tanase in his turn stated that the result, especially in Bucharest, "Is a political disaster as far as the PSD is concerned." "It is a vote to reject the PSD, which people saw as an arrogant party, a rule that barely cares about people," Tanase said. zf@zf.ro
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