Financiarul

A number of 12 politicians eager to be presidents have joined the race for the November 22 election and will try to convince the Romanians to trust them.

The final candidacies and electoral insignia for the presidential election will be announced by the Central Electoral Bureau (BEC) on Thursday.
On Thursday BEC organizes an open meeting for the representatives of the media with a view to casting lots for establishing the order of the candidates and their electoral insignia on the voting papers.

Three independent candidates and nine representatives of some political groups have joined the race for Cotroceni.
Current Head of State Traian Basescu runs for the second term in office and is supported by the Democratic Liberal Party. The following leaders of the main political parties have also joined the presidential race: Mircea Geoana representing the PSD+PC Alliance, an alliance made up of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the Conservative Party (PC), Crin Antonescu representing the National Liberal Party, Corneliu Vadim Tudor representing the Greater Romania Party, Kelemen Hunor representing the Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania, George Becali representing the New Generation Christian Democratic Party.

Sorin Oprescu, Mayor of Bucharest, Gheorghe Eduard Manole and Constantin Nicolae Potarca, president of the Employers’ Association of Roma Businessmen, run independently for the presidential election. The list of candidates is completed by two representatives of the ecologist current: Remus Cernea representing the Green Party and Ovidiu Iane representing the Romanian Ecologist Party, as well as by Constantin Rotaru representing the Socialist Alliance Party.
There were another 16 candidates for President, but they did not get the green light from BEC to join the electoral race.

BEC rejected the independent candidates Sabin Baltac, Maria Zetea, Ioan Lascu, Emilian¬Florea Popescu, Nicolae Boanca, Marius Iulian Mirea, Doina-Elena Noghin, Ion Coja, Gheorghe Ovidiu Emil Stoenescu, Nicolae Toteanu, Ioan Astefanoaiei, Gheorghe Predescu, Lucian Lugoviceanu and Aurel Munteanu.
BEC also denied access to the presidential race to representative of the People’s and Social Protection Party Nicolae Doru Popescu and Cornel Cernoschi representing the union of the persons that do not cast their votes in Romania.

After examining the applications for candidacy, BEC found either that they did not have the list of supporters or the application did not mention their birth place and date, profession, marital status or was not accompanied by ID copies and the declarations of wealth or interests.
The decisions made by BEC could be contested with the Constitutional Court (CCR), such applications being filed with the above-mentioned body. They contested the candidacies of Crin Antonescu, Mircea Geoana, Traian Basescu, Corneliu Vadim Tudor, Kelemen Hunor, Constantin Potarca, Sorin Oprescu and Remus Cernea, but the court turned down all of them.

CCR also rejected the appeal filed by the People’s and Social Protection Party against the BEC decision on rejecting the candidacy of Nicolae Doru Popescu for the election of Romania’s President, but also the ones referring to the candidacies of Nicolae Toteanu and Maria Zetea.

Prince Radu Duda and Nati Meir said they intended to run for President, but withdrew from the race shortly before the beginning of the competition for Cotroceni.
The election campaign began on Friday, October 23, and will end on Saturday morning before the election, that is November 21.

During the election campaign candidates and, as the case may be, political parties, political and electoral alliances, the organizations of the citizens belonging to the national minorities that nominated them as well as citizens have the right to state their opinions freely and without any discrimination by means of rallies, meetings, marches as well as through the agency of the mass media.

The election campaign can be held in a state different from Romania only if the legislation in force of the state in question is obeyed. Any kind of election campaign actions in military units, in schools, while classes are held, at the headquarters of the diplomatic representation offices as well as in prisons are forbidden.
In keeping with the Constitution, Romania’s President is elected by universal, equal, direct, secret and freely cast suffrage. The mandate of the Head of State covers five years.

The position of Romania’s President can only be held for two terms in office at most, which can come one after another. On November 22 more than 18 million Romanian citizens who have the right to vote are expected to go to the polls for the presidential election. They will be able to vote in 21,207 polling stations. It is estimated that 21,963,409 voting papers and 18,162,757 stickers are necessary.