Election campaign rules might be changed

Permanent Electoral Authority wishes to change the rules regarding the organisation of election campaigns in Romania. As for the term of the campaign, opinions vary.

Surprisingly, it is those that will run for a seat in Parliament or in local councils who claim that a three-month campaign is too much for Romania to handle.

These statements come after the Permanent Electoral Authority has publicly expresses its intentions to change things in this respect.

Some party representatives think that Romania is not politically mature enough to cope with these changes.

Moreover, the campaign expenses would be higher than they have been before and so would the risk for a person to change their mind about which side to vote.

Despite these opinions, almost all political parties wish to change the rules regarding the organisation of election campaigns, taking into account what happened during the 2008 election campaign.

Furthermore, it is not only the politicians’ wish to make a change, Traian Băsescu ‘s himself has recently stated during a Government meeting that things cannot be left for the last minute and that all possible election law changes need to be made in time.

PSD President Victor Ponta claims that a 90-day campaign would serve the interests of those who actually buy people’s votes.

‘PDL wishes to secure their votes by buying votes with the funds Elena Udrea and the local kings manage and any type of law or regulations would have to be supervised both internationally and by the media in order to avoid this election fraud’, Victor Ponta stated.

PNL Vice-president Mihai Voicu says that Romania cannot afford the six-month election campaign that will take place next year at the same time with the local and Parliamentary elections.

Mihai Voicu says that ‘the 30-day election campaign alternative, the one that is still in force, suits all parties because it gives candidates enough time to present their platforms, programmes and ideas’.

DAHR deputy Márton Árpád is against the idea of extending the election campaign to 90 days and against other provisions in the Election Code that the Permanent Electoral Authority has put forward.

Márton Árpád says that many of these provisions are unconstitutional, such as the provision for not holding elections in the colleges that put up only one candidate.

‘That particular party might not enter the Parliament because those exact uninominal colleges could not vote for it, because it lost the election for only 0.3 percent, but that uninominal college might have not put up another candidate in the election. So, this provision defies logic, who can become deputy or senator or mayor if there is no counter candidate, if no one marks the square with that candidate’s name on a ballot paper?

PD-L deputy Sulfina Barbu claims that increasing the election campaign from 30 to 90 days is an exaggeration and PD-L Vice-president Raluca Turcan believes that the Romanian political class is not mature enough to undergo such a change.

However, PD-L deputy Sever Voinecu argues that the time of an election campaign depends on the election process.

‘There are countries such as Romania where the election fight is very tight and relatively small, but there are other countries such as USA where the election campaign has no time limit’.

‘We must understand the meaning of the words “election campaign” and the political actions that parties can take only during the election campaign in order to see if a 90-day campaign is too long, if a 30-day campaign is too short or if a two-week one is enough’, Sever Voinescu adds.

The Election Code draft that the Permanent Electoral Authority has put forward must be sent to the Government and then to the Parliament.

Translated by: Raluca Mizdrea
MA Student, MTTLC, Bucharest University