Local elections under the sign of COVID-19

Initially scheduled for June, but postponed because of the crisis triggered by the new coronavirus, local elections in Romania will be held in only one round, on September 27th. In the meantime, the mayors' terms have been extended by half a year, and authorities have focused on implementing measures aimed at curbing the spread of the new coronavirus. Therefore, elections this year are to be held under the sign of the new disease, and it will the first time that both the election campaign, which starts on Friday, and the elections as such, are held under special conditions.

President Klaus Ioahnnis has called on all the candidates, but also voters, to observe the sanitary protection measures in place, so that the elections can be held safely. Before the start of the election campaign, the head of state insisted that it's essential for everyone to do everything in their power to protect democracy during this period. This is possible, the head of state stressed, if we all follow a set of rules and measures designed to ensure an optimal framework for carrying out electoral actions under special conditions. 

The president recalled that precedents exist and there are countries that have organized several types of elections during the pandemic, without this having subsequently had a negative impact on the number of infections. Klaus Iohannis addressed candidates in particular, urging them not to expose people to the danger of infection, because, he said, no electoral goal is more important than health, and any violation of the rules will have to be drastically sanctioned.

However, the head of state has acknowledged that a zero-risk scenario does not exit, but, if all special measures are understood, mastered and applied by both organizers and citizens, the risk can be minimized. "Elections are the foundation of democracy. Even if we live in one of the most complicated times in Romania's recent history, democracy cannot be suspended or placed between the brackets, because it guarantees us all the rights and freedoms that we enjoy", the head of state stressed.

The election campaign starts on Friday, and competition is fierce, especially in the capital and in the big cities, and the politicians make calculations and think of strategies to attract as many votes as possible and thus reach their goals. They are competing for 41 offices of county council president, more than 1,300 county councilor and 40,000 local councilor seats, and approximately 3,200 mayoral positions.

The most important battle is for the seat of mayor of Bucharest, where there are no less than 18 candidates, four of whom are independent. The favourites are the current Social Democrat mayor Gabriela Firea and Nicusor Dan, an independent candidate supported by the governing National Liberal Party and USR-PLUS. (M. Ignatescu)