Romania local elections: Should Oprescu become Bucharest mayor, leftist forces would be able to negotiate government alliances, says Reuters

Romanian voters may deliver the seat of Bucharest mayor to the leftist opposition in the second round of local elections on Sunday and that would boost the attempts of the Left to regain power at national level in general elections later this year, Reuters says in an analysis.

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.