Many Romanians prefer to go on a short trip during the extended week-end given by the elections and the Romanian national Day (December 1), a fact that may affect significantly the electoral results, since 2008 seems to be the year with the lowest participation rate since the 1989 Revolution. A couple of days before the elections, newspapers still don't host large amounts of political news, preferring information about the financial crisis, the banks operating in Romania and the economy status.
"The real Romania salutes the political Romania from far away, on holiday", is the headline in Gandul. The Romanians with an average income already booked holiday tickets for the extended electoral weekend, tourism agencies announcing they're completely sold out. The participation rate of electors already decreased 30% between 1990 and 2004, but 2008 will be the year with the lowest rate ever, counting the students, the immigrants working abroad without legal documents and those leaving for a short break, the newspaper comments.
Meanwhile, Cotidianul simulated the elections on Sunday and found that the winner for Bucharest will be the Democrat-Liberal Party, winning 12 deputy and 5 senator seats, followed by Social Democrats, with 9 deputy and 4 senator seats and Liberals - 6 deputy and 2 senator seats. "Garbage king" Silviu Prigoana is expected to win 81% of the votes in his college, while the richest Romanian, controversial Gigi Becali, may lose the elections in the second scrutiny, in front of the anonymous Oana Mizil.
More important for Romanians, the Romania Central Bank (BNR) may revise the credit regulations in January, in case it is proven that the new rules have led to a blockage, Gandul reads. A week ago, the Romanian Banks Association announced that it will ask BNR to revise the rules, since the last set of modifications significantly decreased the number of eligible clients, Gandul reads.
In business, news is far from positive, with the recently opened Nokia factory being about to lay off some 600 people. All of them were temporarily sent home, earning 75% of their wage until the end of the year, but may become unemployed starting in January. Most of them haven't worked for an entire year in the factory, so they won't be eligible for unemployment aid either.
At the factory opening, the Nokia officials said that the facility will employ some 4,000 people before the end of 2009. The number of employees is 1,700 at this point, Evenimentul Zilei underlines.
No wonder Romania has become the second largest hackers host worldwide, with 13% of all illicit servers, as a Symantec study reveals, according to Gandul.
