Local elections will be held on Sunday in Romania. Romanians are to elect about 3.2 thousand mayors, 41 chairmen of county councils, more than 1.3 thousand members of county councils, and 40 thousand members of local councils.
18 candidates are running for the post of general mayor of the Romanian capital, of which 14 are nominated by political parties and four are independent. The favorites are the current mayor, 48-year-old Gabriela Firia from the opposition Social Democratic Party (SDP), and 50-year-old Nikusor Dan, an independent candidate supported by the ruling National Liberal Party (PLP) and the new party created on August 15 by the merger of the Union for the salvation of Romania “and the Party of Freedom, Unity, and Solidarity.
Former Romanian President Traian Basescu and former Prime Minister Calin Popescu-Tericanu also joined the struggle for the post of mayor of the capital. Among the candidates for the post of member of the General Council of Bucharest is former Prime Minister Petre Roman.
Such well-known politicians in the country as Emil Bock (mayor of Cluj-Napoca) and Mihai Chirica (mayor of Iasi) are competing for re-election as heads of city administrations. For the post of mayor of Sibiu, the self-proclaimed king of the Romanian gypsies Dorin Choabe put forward his candidacy.
