Halfway down the Danube

All quiet on the Eastern Front

Or so it seems. We had local elections yesterday and I found the run for mayor of Bucharest rather interesting. It's a tale of true Romanian politics.

In a bid to govern Bucharest for the first time in 12 years, the Social Democratic Party put 45-year-old Foreign Minister Mircea Geoana forward for mayor. A former ambassador to the United States, he is seen as more reform-minded than others in his party, and popular among younger people.

But critics say Geoana's diplomatic skills won't translate well into the rough-and-tumble job of running Bucharest, a dusty Balkan capital with potholed roads and no running water in some areas.

Voting early yesterday, Geoana said a well-run Bucharest under his stewardship would reflect well on Romania as a whole, saying that through "an efficient administration ... we can bring Romania through its capital into Europe sooner."

Geoana faced incumbent mayor Traian Basescu, 52, who represents the centrist two-party Justice and Truth Alliance. Polls showed Basescu ahead of Geoana, whose party was expected to win about 40 percent of the vote in local races nationwide.
Source: eTaiwanNews.com

Now, why would a Foreign minister run for a mayoral office? Doesn't he have enough to do? Why trade one really big post for a big post?

Prime Minister Nastase is said to be jealous of this hugely popular politician -- Geoana is erudite, charming, and has perfect teeth -- and would like to see a little less of him. I guess it seemed a good tactical move to have his competitor become Mayor of Bucharest which is a prestigious office but which removes Geoana from his daily menu.

Why Geoana agreed to this, I have no clue. Maybe he's tired of being Foreign Minister. Or the PSD has found a way to put pressure on him. We'll probably never know for sure - more's the pity.

However, it all amounted to nothing:

The opposition maintained control of the Romanian capital Bucharest in municipal elections as outgoing mayor Traian Basescu defeated Foreign Minister Mirceau Geoana with a clear majority of 59 percent, according to exit polls.
Source: Channel News Asia

So now Geoana goes back to his Foreign Minister duties but his position in the PSD must have suffered. I wonder whether he'll even bother to run again later this year in the national elections -- or whether he will be offered to run again.

Political analyst Sorin Ionitga said that Geona would return to the foreign ministry but had "undoubtedly lost part of his political capital" as Romania's most popular politician.

This is, of course, a nice outcome for Nastase in any case. He must have chuckled, privately.

Nastase said the winners of Sunday's vote had work to do as their mandates would "begin in Romania and end in the European Union".
Source: EU Business

I find the last sentence rather amusing. Natase has no choice but to keep up the belief that Romania will join the EU in 2007, even though this looks increasingly unlikely. Well.

In case you're wondering about my sources -- Asian news services are ahead of Western ones because of the time difference. Also, for some unknown reason, Taiwan seems to find Romania much more interesting and news-worthy than, say, the New York Times.

Posted by claudia at June 7, 2004 11:51 AM