Local elections were held in Romania on 1 June 2008, with a runoff for mayors on 15 June 2008. [1]
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]
The most notables victories of the election ("Top 10") are listed below:
Name | Political Party | City | Percentage |
---|---|---|---|
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% |
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]
Party | County Councils Presidents | Mayors | Local Councils seats (CL) | County Council seats (CJ) | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | ||
Democratic Liberal Party (Partidul Democrat Liberal) | 2,243,144 | 28.17 | 14 | 2,964,948 | 33.58 | 908 | 2,356,584 | 27.70 | 11,129 | 2,416,014 | 28.92 | 458 | |
Social Democratic Party (Partidul Social Democrat) | 2,234,465 | 28.06 | 17 | 2,717,490 | 30.77 | 1,138 | 2,268,271 | 26.67 | 12,137 | 2,337,102 | 27.97 | 452 | |
National Liberal Party (Partidul Naţional Liberal) | 1,537,840 | 18.08 | 5 | 1,721,834 | 19.50 | 706 | 1,576,214 | 19.80 | 8,529 | 1,521,191 | 18.20 | 297 | |
Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (Uniunea Democrată Maghiară din România) | 419,028 | 5.26 | 4 | 378,413 | 4.28 | 184 | 404,657 | 4.75 | 2,195 | 429,329 | 5.13 | 89 | |
Conservative Party (Partidul Conservator) | 263,200 | 3.30 | – | 224,182 | 2.53 | 47 | 315,825 | 3.71 | 1,398 | 277,492 | 3.32 | 16 | |
New Generation Party (Partidul Noua Generaţie - Creştin Democrat) | 227,744 | 2.86 | – | 159,739 | 1.80 | 35 | 300,661 | 3.53 | 1,203 | 248,757 | 2.97 | 9 | |
Greater Romania Party (Partidul România Mare) | 252,956 | 3.17 | – | 124,492 | 1.41 | 19 | 314,731 | 3.70 | 1,090 | 313,666 | 3.75 | 15 | |
Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party (Partidul Naţional Ţărănesc Creştin Democrat) | 78,752 | 0.98 | – | 53,908 | 0.61 | 11 | 102,137 | 1.20 | 326 | 88,066 | 1.05 | 2 | |
Other political parties | 703,437 | 10.12 | 1 | 502,202 | 5.52 | 131 | 865,707 | 8.94 | 2,260 | 722,134 | 8,69 | 55 | |
Total: 18,313,440 expected voters (turnout 49,38%) | 7,960,566 | 100 | 41 | 8,829,208 | 100 | 3,179 | 8,504,787 | 100 | 40,297 | 8,353,751 | 100 | 1,393 | |
Source: Central Electoral Bureau Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine |
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