June 2008’s elections will be close and involve alliance making, but democratic participation among the Hungarian minority is a model for others.

Below is an article published by The Diplomat:

Romania’s political scene is now encountering a high frequency of backroom deals ahead of the local elections in early June [2008].

Polls are showing that one party remains in front - the new Democratic Liberal Party (PDL). This is headed by ex-Prime Minister Theodor Stolojan and Cluj-Napoca mayor Emil Boc, and is indirectly patronised by President Traian Basescu. Large parties such as the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the governing National Liberal Party (PNL) have fallen in popularity since the 2004 elections.

In the last two years, the PSD, the PNL, the Conservative Party (PC), the Greater Romania Party (PRM) and the Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR) have formed a coalition of the willing to isolate the PDL members in the Parliament.

This relationship is set to become closer.

[…]

The two parties will probably make deals on tactical voting to win in the local elections. There are two rounds of voting in these elections. If no local candidate scores above 50 per cent in the first round, there is a run-off between the two best performing candidates. In a certain city, town or village, the PSD and PNL could support whichever of their candidates has the highest chances of victory.

These tactical alliances will be a rehearsal for the general election, due at the end of this year, to see if a PNL-PC-PSD-UDMR pole can secure a majority.

The Liberals now govern with UDMR with support from only 20 per cent of the Parliament. At this rate, the only chance the party has to govern in the next parliamentary elections is to make alliances.

[…]

The Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania is in danger of losing its place in Parliament for the first time. In the previous elections the party gained around six per cent, which corresponds to the percentage of the Hungarian minority in Romania. The party dropped in the latest polls, partly due to lack of reform among its leaders, who are more or less the same as in 1990. Another party promoting the Hungarian interests, the Hungarian Civic Party (PCM), is gaining in popularity. The leaders of PCM are mostly ex-members of UDMR with more radical views on Hungarians’ rights. They have chances to gain victories in the local elections in the counties of Mures, Covasna and Harghita, where Hungarians collectively form the majority. Following these elections, the two parties will need to find common ground, because splitting the Hungarian vote for the general elections means both parties may not pass the five per cent threshold needed to enter Parliament.

[…]

This year Romanians will vote under new rules mixing the existing proportional system with a uninominal concept, otherwise known as the first-past-the-post system. This latter mode sees voters elect an individual or party member in a discrete constituency. Who gains from this new system remains a complete mystery. In local elections, it will apply to county council presidents, who were previously elected by county council members. These positions will be hard-fought during the campaign because county council leaders divide the county budget to their respective cities, towns and villages. Previous experience has also shown that many of these presidents become considerably wealthy after a four year mandate.

The first round of local elections will take place on 1 June and the second on 15 June and the turnout is expected to be higher than the 29.4 per cent in last November’s European Parliamentary elections. Voters tend to choose slightly differently in local compared to general elections. Locally, charismatic or effective candidates can make a major difference to the final score. The prime example of this is Mayor of Sibiu Klaus Johannis, who is a member of the German minority party, the Democratic Forum of Germans in Romania (FDGR) and retains popularity among voters who choose national parties in general elections. Candidates’ political affiliation is less important than candidates’ abilities and experience, argues Stoica. “Our polls indicate that voters tend to be more interested in local elections than in elections for the EP or Romanian Parliament,” the general manager of CURS explains.

But this has not been helped by the decision to place the elections in the same week as the European Football Championship, where Romania faces nail-biting matches between France, Holland and Italy.