Romanians go to the polls on Sunday in the first round of voting in the country’s presidential election.
That much you probably know.
You probably also know that just three of the candidates have any chance of making the second round a fortnight later. They are: current president Traian Basescu; PSD leader Mircea Geoana; and Crin Antonescu, leader of the PNL and all round nice guy, with a daughter at our son’s school.
No prizes for guessing for where our vote will be going.
When we say our vote, that will of course be Mrs. Bucharest Life’s vote. Being British, we don’t get a vote, you see.
Unfortunately, unless the opinion polls have been very inaccurate, it is unlikely that Antonescu will make the second round. Instead, it looks a sure bet that Basescu and Geoana will make round two, and that Geoana will win.
Much will depend on the turnout, however, expected to be the lowest in post-communist Romanian history. In a desperate attempt to sure up his own support Basescu has tagged a pointless referendum (something about reducing the size of parliament) onto the ballot paper, though even this looks unlikely to boost turnout: we will be shocked if more than 45 per cent of the electorate turns up. (Although expect there to be plenty of people voting twice to try and boost the numbers of one candidate or another…)
To those 55 per cent who will not vote, we say: ‘Good on you.’ If there is one thing we hate it is the idea that people have to vote, that it is their patriotic duty to vote. That revolutionaries died in 1989 to give people a vote. (Ergo they have to exercise that right).
All mistaken. The revolutionaries died to give people a choice: I can vote for the candidate I choose to support, or I can choose to stay at home and vote for nobody. The idea that anyone should feel obliged to vote is ridiculous and – quite frankly – as undemocratic as the one-candidate elections that went on in these parts before 1989.
Indeed, our dream result (not just for Romania on Sunday but for any election) in fact would nil points all round, as in nobody turns up to vote. Not a soul.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Antonescu looks like a kitten. That is all.
@Craig Turp: no, worse than now – it could be Corneliu Vadim Tudor! Because his right-wing extremists always go to vote at 7 o’clock in the morning.
and I’m gonna be among the first people who find out who won the elections in that sector 
:X
Wanna know something?
I’m gonna be a member in the validation commitee for the elections in Sectorul 5 of Bucharest
That is mayor Daniel Marian Vanghelie’s sector
Mayor Vanghelie has 2 Mercedes S-Klasse, one of them model 2001 with number “VDM” and the other one is model 2008 with number “DMV”
He is a fan of mine : ) )
I would have to agree in part with Parmalat. A low turnout for a particular local seat in the UK led to a BNP win. I think it is more accurate and reflective of the people if elections have higher turnouts.
“a large majority risks being ruled by a leader imposed by a small minority”
What, like now?
What if nobody goes to vote except the drunk people from the street corners?! Everyone should vote because otherwise a large majority risks being ruled by a leader imposed by a small minority.
The same thinn with the Parliament: the fewer senators and deputies – the less money needed to bribe them. That’s why Basescu wants only a few delegates – in order to bribe them or blackmail them. I say we should have 1000 delegates and everyone to vote how he wants.