Crucial local elections in Romania

Securing as many town halls as possible will be the top priority for the national liberal PNL government and PSD, the largest opposition party, in Romania's local elections on Sunday. Romanian commentators explain why heading to the polling station is far more important for voters than the term "local elections" might suggest.

Open/close all quotes
Revista 22 (RO) /

Country's future is determined outside the capital

Revista 22 urges its readers to go to the polls:

“Local elections are the most important elections in Romania. They decide the distribution of power for the next four years and sometimes beyond. That is where the money is, that is where the projects are, that is where the question of who is in power is decided. Some are still indulging in the centralist nostalgia of the communist era and the idea that everything will be decided in Bucharest. They couldn't be more wrong. Those who held power in the provinces in the last few years, in the town halls and district councils, negotiated with the 'centre'. That is how prime ministers were made. ... Think about it. It may not be obvious, but depending on the outcome of these elections Romania could look very different in the future.”

Contributors (RO) /

We must decide who spends our money

Writing in Contributors, Energy policy advisor Cosmin Gabriel Păcuraru also urges readers to think carefully and vote accordingly:

“What have we observed lately? That the state - in the form of its elected representatives - divides us citizens into two categories. On the one hand there are the protégés and those who depend on the government, which can rely on their support. And then there are those the politicians would prefer didn't vote, but whose taxes they need - so that they can then spend the money as they see fit. So in a nutshell there are the taxpayers on the one hand, and the beneficiaries of taxpayers' money on the other. Four years ago it was above all the second group who went to the polls. This vote is about money! About how it is spent! It's about our money!”