Alegerile prezidențiale și influența lor asupra hărții politice a României Presidential elections and their influence on the Romanian political map Section Studies and Research Papers

Abstract

Considering the importance of the future membership of Romania in the European Union, the presidential elections in this country take another dimension. On the one hand, they coincide in every resumption with the general and senatorial election. Consequently, the electoral results offer an angle of analysis which becomes revealing as for the reforms, the process of democratization, the fragmentation of the partisan space, the difficulties in the emergence of a competent and professional political class and those of an at least delicate economic and social situation. On the other hand, the theme of membership has made, for some time, the political consensus as for the objectives of the foreign policy. Resumed by all the political parties, the external factor does not manage to surmount the cleavage which remains between urban Romania and rural Romania. The very tight results between the two main candidates arrived at the ballot, namely Adrian Nãstase (leader of PSD) and T. Bãsescu (leader of an opposition which knew how to mobilize in a lapse of time, PD-PNL) are however revealing of the changes on the Romanian political scene. They confirm the territorial anchoring of the main political forces in Romania but they mark a net recession of the extreme right. The number of parties represented in the Parliament remains stable but, paradoxically does not produce a strengthened or stabilized political scene. In this way, the elections in Romania end in coalitions to limited partners. The fragile balance characterizes the new government which will have the heavy spot to make of the country a separate member of the UE.