The recent period has marked a growing tension in the political space. In the run-up to the presidential and parliamentary elections, political parties have adopted different attack techniques. In Romania, the presidential elections are treated as the most important, even though, if we look at it from the perspective of constitutional prerogatives, the president has limited powers, while the parliament has the most decision-making powers. Knowing this, the parties intend to use the presidential candidates as a locomotive for the parliamentary elections. So far, several representatives of Romania’s major parties and independent candidates have announced or are about to announce their candidacies:
Elena Lasconi, a TV journalist by profession and currently mayor of Câmpulung Muscel, candidate of the Union Save Romania party. Although she represents a party assimilated as „progressive” by public opinion, she has embraced a traditionalist rhetoric, marked by slogans with „nation” in the message, as well as photos of her wearing a cross around her neck. She also decided to stop at places of worship during her electoral trips and to promote these visits. Elena Lasconi’s intention is to halt the decline of the party, which recorded disgraceful results in the last elections, the European Parliament elections.
Marcel Ciolacu, Prime Minister of Romania, candidate of the Social Democratic Party, the largest party in Romania. Ciolacu has several skeletons in his closet. Among them is the issue of his studies, with suspicions that he forged his baccalaureate diploma to study at a „diploma factory”, a private university. The PSD chief’s problems also include his links to Omar Hayssam, a convicted terrorist, with whom Ciolacu has been hunting. Ciolacu continues to use the party’s specific rhetoric of social security for the elderly.
Mircea Geoană, NATO deputy secretary general, former PSD president. Geoană’s appointment to NATO remains an uncertain situation in Romania. He previously ran in 2009, losing narrowly to incumbent president Traian Băsescu. His election night performance earned him the nickname „president for one night”. Although Geoană wants to pose as an independent, a position from which he is running, he has problematic ties with several figures in Romania’s political scene. He was recently photographed at the birthday party of Marius Tucă, a journalist who promotes characters with a rhetoric directed against the EU and even NATO. Also present at the lunch attended by Geoană were Marcel Ciolacu and Ioan Raus, the real name of HD Hartmann, a character promoted by Tucă, a fervent defender of pro-Russian messages in Romania.
Nicolae Ciucă, President of the Romanian Senate, former Prime Minister, President of the National Liberal Party. By profession a military man, former commander of the General Defense Staff, Ciucă has been retired with the highest rank in the Romanian Army, four-star general. Nicolae Ciucă displayed a disguised election advertisement, justified by an autobiographical book he allegedly wrote. The book promotion was met with strong criticism from civil society, as colossal sums were invested from budgetary sources.
Ana Birchall. A lawyer by profession, she was justice minister in the PSD government, a party in which she was also a member for several years until her expulsion. She is now running as an independent and her speech is built on social issues. She has dismissed accusations that her past in the PSD has been linked to her work in the justice ministry. Some voices in civil society believe Birchall is aiming to decimate Elena Lasconi’s electorate.
George Simion, profession uncertain, president of the Alliance for the Unity of Romanians. Simion is the main representative of the far-right movement in Romania. With a discourse marked by ideological confusion, advocating right-wing principles such as those aimed at encouraging local business and nationalizing companies, Simion is a controversial figure. His past, which is marked by intense activity in football supporters’ groups with strong links to Romanian politics, and the fact that a Kiev secret service official claimed Simion had met an FSB agent before entering politics. Diana Iovanovici-Șoșoaca, a lawyer and president of S.O.S. Romania. She is currently a member of the European Parliament and is the person with the most virulent far-right discourse. Șoșoacă’s rhetoric has a conspiratorial flavor, unmarked by nostalgia for the periods when Romania was ruled by dictatorial regimes. Her support is questionable because her mother is part of an irregular Masonic lodge led by Bartolomeu Constantin Săvoiu, a controversial general who advocates pro-Russian rhetoric.
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