2008 Romanian local elections

Last updated

Local elections were held in Romania on 1 June 2008, with a runoff for mayors on 15 June 2008. [1]

Contents

On 1 June elections were held for:

On 17 April 2008, the Social Democratic Party and the Conservative Party announced they would form a political alliance for these elections, the Alliance PSD+PC. [2] For the first time the presidents of the County Councils were elected directly by the people, and not by later negotiations inside the County Council; other notable characteristics included a substantial number of Roma candidates standing, as well as some representatives of the Romanian Orthodox Church. [3] Turnout was low, with fewer than half of the eligible voters turning out to vote; in most big cities, except for Constanţa (incumbent PSD member Radu Ştefan Mazăre won) and Cluj-Napoca (incumbent Democratic Liberal Party member Emil Boc won), the election was not decided in the first round; in Bucharest, PDL member Vasile Blaga and independent Sorin Oprescu (former member of the PSD) will meet in the run-off. [4]

Overall, PD-L got 28.37%, PSD got 28.04%, PNL got 18.66%, and UDMR got 5.43% of the cast votes. [5] [6]

Incomplete map of the results for the Mayors

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Social Democratic Party
Democratic Liberal Party
National Liberal Party
Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania
Conservative Party
Greater Romania Party
Democratic Forum of Germans in Romania
Independent
Drawing not finished Romania local election 2008 administrive units.png
Incomplete map of the results for the Mayors
  Independent
  Drawing not finished

First round

Mayors

The distribution of the mayor seats after the first round was as follows:

Social Democratic Party
Democratic Liberal Party
National Liberal Party
Other political parties
To be decided in the runoff 01062008-Romanian-mayors-1st-round.png
The distribution of the mayor seats after the first round was as follows:
  To be decided in the runoff

The most notables victories of the election ("Top 10") are listed below:

NamePolitical PartyCityPercentage
Klaus Iohannis FDGR Sibiu 83.2%
Florin Cârciumaru PSD Târgu Jiu 82.5%
Darius Vâlcov PD-L Slatina 81.07%
Gheorghe Ştefan PD-L Piatra Neamț 79.3%
Liviu Negoiță PD-L Sector 3 (Bucharest) 79.0%
Constantin Hogea PD-L Tulcea 73.4%
Tudor Pendiuc PSD Piteşti 72.0%
Emil Boc PD-L Cluj-Napoca 70.2%
George Scripcaru PD-L Braşov 69.8%
Radu Mazăre PSD Constanţa 67.9%
Gheorghe Falcă PD-L Arad 67.6%

Local Councils

The distribution of the 37,915 Local Council seats

Social Democratic Party
Democratic Liberal Party
National Liberal Party
Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania
Conservative Party
Democratic Forum of Germans in Romania
other parties/Independent 01062008-Romanian-local-councils.png
The distribution of the 37,915 Local Council seats
   other parties/Independent

County Council Presidents

Map of the Romanian counties based on the party of the president of the County Council

Social Democratic Party
Democratic Liberal Party
National Liberal Party
Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania
Democratic Forum of Germans in Romania Alegeri locale 2008.png
Map of the Romanian counties based on the party of the president of the County Council
The distribution of the 41 County Council Presidents

Social Democratic Party
Democratic Liberal Party
National Liberal Party
Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania
Democratic Forum of Germans in Romania 01062008-Romanian-County-Presidents.png
The distribution of the 41 County Council Presidents

County Councils

[8]

Results of the county councilors Romania-locale 2008.svg
Results of the county councilors
The distribution of the votes for the 41 County Councils

Social Democratic Party
Democratic Liberal Party
National Liberal Party
other parties 01062008-Romanian-County-Councils.png
The distribution of the votes for the 41 County Councils
The distribution of the seats for the 41 County Councils

Social Democratic Party
Democratic Liberal Party
National Liberal Party
Greater Romania Party
Conservative Party
Democratic Forum of Germans in Romania
other parties/Independent 01062008-Romanian-County-Councils-Composition.png
The distribution of the seats for the 41 County Councils
   other parties/Independent

Runoff

The distribution of the Mayor seats
Social Democratic Party
Democratic Liberal Party
National Liberal Party
Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania
Conservative Party
Democratic Forum of Germans in Romania
Other parties/Independent candidates Romanian-mayors-1st-round-and-runoff.png
The distribution of the Mayor seats

The mayoral runoff was held in 1,441 local constituencies. Also, in the communes of Ştefăneşti and Vidra, in Ilfov County the first tour was repeated, due to the cancellation of the election held on 1 June in the two communes. If a runoff is needed for the mayor's election, it will be held on 24 June. A sentence regarding the cancellation of the electoral process in the commune of Iepureşti, Giurgiu is pending from the Central Electoral Bureau.

The independent and former Social Democratic Party member Sorin Oprescu won the election for mayor of Bucharest with 54% against Vasile Blaga from the president's Democratic Liberal Party. [9] Overall, Social Democratic Party won about a third of the mayors, while Democratic Liberal Party won slightly less. [10]

In Voineşti, a tiny town in northeastern Romania, the incumbent Social Democratic Party mayor Neculai Ivaşcu, who died on the election day, was nonetheless elected over his rival, Gheorghe Dobreanu of the National Liberal Party; however, the election commission declared the runner-up elected, but Social Democratic Party said they would appeal that decision. [11] [12]

Summary of the 1 June 2008 and 15 June 2008 Romanian local election results
PartyCounty Councils
Presidents
MayorsLocal Councils
seats (CL)
County Council
seats (CJ)
Votes%SeatsVotes%SeatsVotes%SeatsVotes%Seats
Democratic Liberal Party
(Partidul Democrat Liberal)
2,243,14428.17142,964,94833.589082,356,58427.7011,1292,416,01428.92458
Social Democratic Party
(Partidul Social Democrat)
2,234,46528.06172,717,49030.771,1382,268,27126.6712,1372,337,10227.97452
National Liberal Party
(Partidul Naţional Liberal)
1,537,84018.0851,721,83419.507061,576,21419.808,5291,521,19118.20297
Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania
(Uniunea Democrată Maghiară din România)
419,0285.264378,4134.28184404,6574.752,195429,3295.1389
Conservative Party
(Partidul Conservator)
263,2003.30224,1822.5347315,8253.711,398277,4923.3216
New Generation Party
(Partidul Noua Generaţie - Creştin Democrat)
227,7442.86159,7391.8035300,6613.531,203248,7572.979
Greater Romania Party
(Partidul România Mare)
252,9563.17124,4921.4119314,7313.701,090313,6663.7515
Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party
(Partidul Naţional Ţărănesc Creştin Democrat)
78,7520.9853,9080.6111102,1371.2032688,0661.052
Other political parties 703,43710.121502,2025.52131865,7078.942,260722,1348,6955
Total: 18,313,440 expected voters (turnout 49,38%)7,960,566100418,829,2081003,1798,504,78710040,2978,353,7511001,393
Source: Central Electoral Bureau Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine

Notable partial election

The legislature of the local authorities is of four years, for all the local authorities. Local elected officials who cannot serve the full term (due to death, incompatibility or resignation) are replaced. The members of the Local Councils and County Councils are replaced by the next person on the list elected. For the Mayors and Presidents of the County Councils, elected on a two-round system, and first past the post respectively, no later than 90 days from the vacancy of the post the Government must announce the day the early election is called. The election is not called if the vacancy occurs in the last six months of the term. The newly elected Mayors and Presidents of the County Councils serve the rest of the term. The ad interim Mayors and Presidents of the County Councils are one of the Deputy-Mayors (elected by the Local Council, if the settlement has more than one Deputy-Mayor), and one of the Vice President of the County Council, elected by the County Council.

Cluj-Napoca

On 22 December 2008 Emil Boc was sworn in as Prime Minister of Romania. He resigned from the office of Mayor of Cluj-Napoca on 4 January 2009. The Government called for partial election in Cluj-Napoca on 15 February 2009. The three main competitors were the ad interim Mayor of Cluj-Napoca, Sorin Apostu (PD-L), former Cluj County Council President and current Senator Marius Nicoară (PNL), and former Cluj-Napoca Police commander, Teodor Pop-Puşcaş (PSD).

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References

  1. the Government's Press Release [ permanent dead link ]
  2. Romania's PSD and PC form alliance (SETimes.com)
  3. Romanians vote in local elections (SETimes.com)
  4. Low turnout in Romania's local elections (SETimes.com)
  5. "Adevarul". Archived from the original on 2008-06-04. Retrieved 2008-06-05.
  6. Biroul Electoral Central | PRIMA PAGINA |- Alegeri pentru autoritatile administratiei publice locale iunie 2008
  7. "Adevârul newspaper". Archived from the original on 2008-06-20. Retrieved 2008-06-22.
  8. Official results
  9. Exit poll shows leftist candidate to become mayor of Bucharest
  10. BalkanInsight.com – Independent Mayor for Capital of Romania
  11. "AFP: Dead Romanian candidate wins mayoral vote". Archived from the original on 2011-05-20. Retrieved 2008-06-16.
  12. HotNews – Candidate defeated in Voinesti, Romania to become mayor after rival died on local elections day