





Romania local elections: Should Oprescu become Bucharest mayor, leftist forces would be able to negotiate government alliances, says Reuters
The agency reminds that opinion polls prior to Sunday's elections showed a very slight advantage of independent candidate Sorin Oprescu, supported by the Social Democrats (PSD), at the disadvantage of Vasile Blaga, the Democratic-Liberal (PD-L) candidate.
According to Reuters, should Oprescu become mayor, his victory would let the Left negotiate future governmental partnerships following the general elections, which are expected to result in a divided Parliament with no clear majority.
Reuters also notes that the PSD and PD-L won most town halls in the first round of the local elections, while the governing Liberals (PNL) led by PM Calin Popescu Tariceanu received only 20% as voters sanctioned the current authorities for slowing down reforms and their internal struggles.