Monday, December 12th

Partial BEC results following Romania’s parliamentary elections

Romania’s left-wing Social Democratic Party (PSD) took a big lead in partial results of the country’s parliamentary elections after more than 95 percent of the votes were counted, according to official figures published by the Central Electoral Bureau (BEC) early on Monday. With 45.96% of the votes, the PSD leads the race for seats in the parliament’s lower house, the Chamber of Deputies. The party is followed by its main political rival, the centre-right National Liberal Party (PNL) with 20.05% of the votes and the newcomer Save Romania Union (USR) with 8.38%. Other parties in the Chamber of Deputies include the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians (UDMR) – 6.47%, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) – 6.02%, and the Popular Movement Party (PMP) – 5.1%. In elections for the Senate, the parliament’s upper house, the PSD leads with 46.16%, followed by PNL – 20.43%, USR – 8.45%, UDMR – 6.49%, ALDE – 6.02% and PMP – 5.38%. The elections’ turnout across the country hit more than 39 percent with its highest in the soutern Romanian county of Olt – more than 47% and the capital Bucharest – 41% while more than 105,000 Romanian voters cast their ballots abroad.

Newcomer USR, Romanians’ favourite abroad

Most Romanians abroad cast their ballots in favour of the newcomer Save Romania Union (USR) led by Nicuşor Dan. Founded barely six months ago to fight the corruption, cronyism and inefficiency endemic in Romanian public life, USR proved itself as favourite of the Romanian diaspora with 28% of the votes for Romania’s Senate and 23.7% of the votes for the Chamber of Deputies while the winning Social Democratic Party (PSD) found itself last with 10.03% votes for the Senate, and 10.56% for the lower house.

Fireworks seized

Nearly 70 kilograms of fireworks worth 7,000 lei were seized last week after raids made in markets, shops and shopping centers, according to a Radio Romania report on Monday. Some 137 individuals or firms were suspected of being involved in illegal trade of fireworks. Romanian police discovered 31 illegal trade-related crimes along with some 23 unauthorised traders or firms. The nationwide so-called „Fireworks Show” operation is expected to end on January 4, 2017.

„King Lear” at Romania’s National Theatre in Bucharest

William Shakespeare’s masterpiece of „King Lear” opened at Romania’s National Theatre in the capital Bucharest on Sunday. Directed by Georgian director David Doiashvili, the performance stars Mihai Constantin in the title role and Marius Manole as his Fool. Reviewers pointed out that it was Romanian hugely acclaimed George Constantin, Mihai Constantin’s father, who played the role on the same stage some 46 years ago.

Alexandru Danga