Romanian Elections&Politics (June 9th - Local and europarliamentary elections)

[Zinneke]

Is Ioannis staying above this or is he just looking out for PNL interests?

[Zinneke]

It really makes House of Cards look like a Quakers meeting.

[Zinneke]

This may have been asked earlier in the thread, but why did the original USL come to be?

And another : I was talking to a Slovak the other day and they said in Romania pretty much every minority is respected (save the Romanii/gypsies), that even the Czech-speaking minority have 1 reserved seat. Is this true?

[Zinneke]

Didn't Hungarians technically "swing" the presidential vote to block Vadim Tudor? Or was it just notable because its the only time Hungarians voted PSD?

Also, can you explain why nominal Hungarians in the Banat are low whilst in Transylvania there is still a big presence of them. Did Hungarians in Banat simply have more intermarriage with Romanians?

Lastly, as a football fan, I wonder, do Hungarian-speaking players play for the Romanian national team? And do Hungarian-speakers tend to support Hungary when they play Romania? I see some in Brussels who just say that they support both sides and we had a coach in Beglium, Lazlo Boloni, who was like that but is this common?

[Zinneke]

Thank you for your answer. Banat used to be kingdom of Hungary and Timisoara/Temesvar a Hungarian city governed by Austrians () so that's why i thought it was Hungarian...I guess given its history was mostly as a military outpost switching between empires it maybe didn't have as many people coming from Hungary as Saxons, Austrians, Serbs, Romanians, etc.

Actually knowing someone from the Banat they would very much object to you calling them ''southern Transylvanian'' hahaha...

[Zinneke]

Is it a purely personal grudge or are there genuine ideological disagreements between them? Seems like the focus should be getting then PSD-PNL crew out and nothing else.

[Zinneke]

Your forgot a post about this cracking corruption case

https://www.euronews.com/2021/03/02/romania-s-former-tourism-minister-sentenced-for-corruption-and-money-laundering

[Zinneke]

It is that time of the year...a party leadership election is on the way! Between July 6th and 10th, USR members all over the country will elect their new leader after Dacian Ciolos, who won the party leadership in September, resigned and left to form a new party. The overwhelming favorite is Catalin Drula, a member of the Barna-wing who has been the acting leader ever since Ciolos resigned. A lot of the opposition has left the party with Ciolos and Drula has a much better public image than Barna, having had an outstanding tenure as Transporation Minister, during which he also managed to get a bunch of PNLers who proposed illegal schemes to him indicted. The main opposition to Drula and the one candidate who might stage an upset is Brasov Mayor Allen Coliban. A mayor of one of the biggest cities in Romania, Coliban has formed an alternative power center to the Barna-Drula crew. However, while his political talents were proven when he, in a huge upset, managed to defeat longtime incumbent George Scripcaru, who was first elected in 2004, his ability to persuade fellow party members has left to be desired after his endorsed candidate got only 10% in September. So do not hold your breath for it. It is very possible that Coliban will also try to form a new party after losing, through his task will be complicated by the fact that he will not be able to join it at least officially, as leaving the party under which he got elected as Mayor would result in his term being canceled.

Btw anyone still interested in this?

Yep I certainly read this thread, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.


Thank you for your updates

[Zinneke]

RGM what do make of Ciolos's REPER and if there is a "good guy" between him and Barna which one is it? I heard Barna was involved in corruption, while Ciolos less so. But the latter is more old school and wouldn't change much if elected.

[Zinneke]

Will it be traditional PNL areas voting AUR? I always got the impression that places like the PSD/Dragnea heartlands were more vulnerable to pro-Russian New Right types..

[Zinneke]

Why are USR trying to make this "right-wing alliance" with Basescu loyalists? Why not keep their brand fairly off the left-right spectrum? Surely there are inner city progressives who don't identify as "Right" who are put off by this.