Profiles: They are running for mayor of Bucharest

With less than one month until the local elections on June 5, BR presents the runners and riders for mayor of Bucharest. Alongside career politicians are leaders from civil society, and even fresh faces running as independents.

Whoever wins the elections and becomes Bucharest mayor will take up the baton from Sorin Oprescu, who prematurely ended his second mandate after being accused of corruption.

Ovidiu Posirca

Daniel Barbu (ALDE)

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Barbu made the headlines three years ago, when as minister of culture, he said he was “shocked” that the budget for the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS patients was half the public funds for cultural activities.

He resigned shortly after that statement and left the liberal party PNL for ALDE, a new party that was created by former PNL head Calin Popescu-Tariceanu.

The ALDE head said that if Barbu becomes mayor, he will organize referendums before taking important decisions impacting the city. This public consultation would be done by mail.

Catalin Berenghi (independent)

The former French foreign legionnaire says he is fighting to keep Romania a Christian country.

He first came into the public eye after burying frozen pigs on a piece of land in Bucharest, where a mosque may be constructed.

He went further and planted 500 Christian crosses throughout Bucharest.  Berenghi is already warning that the elections could be rigged, suggesting that he should be the winner.

The candidate has also complained that the TV stations are ignoring him because he isn’t supported by any party.

In a rare televised appearance, Berenghi said he drives his own car in Bucharest but that occasionally he uses public transport. He commented that more people would go to work by subway or bus, if these means of transport didn’t smell b ad.

Nicusor Dan (USB)

Since 2012, when he won 8.5 percent of the vote as an independent, Dan has expanded his political clout and launched his own party, called the Union to Save Bucharest. This time, his party will have candidates for mayor in all the Bucharest districts.

Although he is not the only civil society candidate, Dan says that Bucharest no longer needs politicians.

Dan, who holds a PhD in mathematics, became famous through the work of his association, which is trying to block illegal construction projects in Bucharest and has ongoing battles in court.

Some of his critics says he is posing as an NGO worker although he has a party, which technically makes him a politician. Dan’s response is that the political system needs quality people and that his association can’t cope with all the issues facing the city.

Bogdan Diaconu (PRU)

Although he is running for mayor of Bucharest, Diaconu looks like he is planning to rule Romania if he gets elected. As head of the extremist party Romania United, Diaconu said he would block the construction of a mosque in Bucharest and that his party would prevent the “islamization” of Romania.

His party has gone even one step further and founded its own militia, called the Patrol of Vlad the Impaler. Its mission is to “protect citizens”, and members wearing special uniforms have been spotted in Bucharest.

Although Diaconu has said that he doesn’t want Muslims in Romania and that the country should nationalize all its natural resources, he has yet to deliver his political manifesto for the local elections in Bucharest.

Gabriela Firea (PSD)

The Social Democrats are betting on Gabriela Firea, a former journalist and newspaper boss who has worked in the past for media mogul Dan Voiculescu, who is currently in jail.

Firea has come under fire in the past two years for controversial comments she has made during election campaigns. For instance, in 2014 she suggested that Klaus Iohannis shouldn’t be elected president because he doesn’t have kids. At that time, she was the spokesperson of Victor Ponta, who ultimately lost. She later apologized for this statement, which continues to haunt her.

But Firea is back on the scene, saying that “her idea of force is for a woman to clean up daily after many men”.

The PSD candidate is married to Florentin Pandele, who is the mayor of Voluntari, a small town near Bucharest. Firea says she should be mayor because she has both political and corporate experience.

Catalin Predoiu (PNL)

Although he was preparing at some point to try and become prime minister, if his party got into power, Predoiu had to fill the vacuum after three consecutive PNL candidates for Bucharest mayor retired from the campaign.

The liberal, who was previously minister of justice, has said that if he is elected mayor, he will finish projects in the same manner as he did when he was in government.

Predoiu is replacing Marian Munteanu, who was dubbed a representative of civil society. Munteanu abandoned his campaign after he was accused of having had ties with the infamous Securitatea, the secret police of the communist regime. He had replaced Ludovic Orban, who stepped down after prosecutors accused him of illegal campaign financing. Orban had in turn replaced MEP Cristian Busoi, who was not doing well in opinion polls.

Adrian Severin (PDS)

The former MEP, who has received a jail sentence of three years and three months that can be appealed, has also thrown his hat into the ring. Severin was tried for influence peddling and bribery following an investigation carried out by journalists from the British publication The Sunday Times.

The Romanian politician had agreed to cooperate with two undercover journalists posing as businesspeople, who told him he would he would be paid EUR 100,000 annually to amend bills in the EU Parliament and to vote against measures that would have hurt the interests of the company the two journalists purported to be representing.

Severin said he was running for mayor because Bucharest has become a “show-window of neoliberalism”. He has already accused anticorruption prosecutors of meddling in his campaign.

Robert Turcescu (PMP)

After working for close to two decades as a journalist, Turcescu shocked the media world in late 2014, when he admitted that he had worked as an undercover intelligence officer. At that time he said he was lieutenant colonel. In his current political campaign, he has claimed that he never took orders from anybody.

The ex-journalist is a candidate of the Popular Movement Party (PMP), which is led by former president Traian Basescu. The PMP head said he was not running for mayor because he is being prosecuted for money laundering.

Turcescu said he has a vision for Bucharest that could be implemented until 2030.

Other candidates for mayor of Bucharest:

Mirel Amaritei (ProDemo)

Iulia Gorea-Costin (PNTCD)

Petrica Dima (PSR)

Niculae Neamtu (Republican Party)

Who’s running in the districts

• District 1

Clotilde Armand (USB)

Ionut Chermenschi (PER)

Laura Chiriac (ALDE)

Maria Chirtoaca (PDS)

Alexandru Nazare (PNL)

Doina Petrosel (PSR)

Gheorghe Padure (independent)

Laurentiu Piticas (PRU)

Eugen Tomac (PMP)

Dan Tudorache (PSD+UNPR)

• District 2

Gigel Andrabulea (PDS)

Antoaneta Bugner (USB)

Radu Cristescu (PMP)

Augustin Hagiu (PRU)

Catalin Marin (PPU-SL)

Dumitru Pelican (PER)

Dan Cristian Popescu (PNL)

Dorina Roman (PSR)

Mihai Toader (PSD+UNPR)

• District 3

Robert Negoita (PSD+UNPR)

Cristian Petrescu (PMP)

Cristina Pocora (PNL)

Constantin Panait (independent)

Elena Petrescu (ALDE)

Stefan Vasile (PDS)

Gabriel Turiceanu (PPU-SL)

Sanda Wring (USB)

• District 4

Daniel Baluta (PSD)

Stefanel Dan Marin (PMP)

Dumitru Dobrev (USB)

Constantin-Titian Filip (PSR)

Razvan Bratu-Iorga (PRU)

Paul Constantin Marinescu (Romanian Socialist Party)

Virgil Nicorescu (PDS)

Razvan Sava (PNL)

Stefan Spiridon (ALDE)

Ovidiu Zara (PML)

• District 5

Daniel Florea (PSD)

Marian Vanghelie (PDS)

Ovidiu Raetchi (PNL)

• District 6

Mihai Danes (USB)

Ioan Dinuta (PRU)

Stefan Florescu (independent)

Alexandru Magherescu (PDS)

Razvan Mironescu (PNL)

Gabriel Mutu (PSD+UNPR)

Stan Robert (ALDE)

Enache Stefan (PMP)