Bucharest heads for referendum no one understands
Bucharest will see a referendum on 19 June to decide whether to abolish or transform the powers of the six Sector mayors
May 2011 - From the Print Edition
However the move has gained criticism because the questions in the referendum are confusing and deal with complicated structures of local Government.
NGOs have accused the city council of making the poll hard to understand so the final result will be open to manipulation.
Citizens will have to answer seven questions related to the re-organisation of the local administration and the development of the city, in a move pioneered by the Bucharest General Council (CGMB).
The council is led by a consortium of the Democratic Liberals (PDL) and the far right parties Romania Mare (PRM) and New Generation (PNG), who are often in fierce debate with the Independent Mayor Sorin Oprescu.
If Bucharest’s population want to keep the status quo of six decentralised Sectors and a central administration with roles that often overlap, they must answer yes to the question: ‘Do you want a Capital with six Sectors and seven administrations?’ If they want to abolish the Sector mayors, but for each Sector to have a representative in a centralised administration, they must answer yes to this question: ‘Do you want a Capital with six Sectors and one single administration?’ If they want to move to abolish the powers of the Sectors and have a centralised authority they must answer yes to the question: ‘Do you agree that Bucharest be ruled by the general mayor and the CGMB?’
The battle will be over who controls the lucrative budgets – with City Hall having a budget of two billion Euro per year and the Sectors in total boasting a budget of one billion Euro.
A consortium of 50 NGOs has called for the referendum to be suspended, arguing that the proposed questions are confusing and accuse the Bucharest council of trying to manipulate opinion through the vagueness of the poll’s wording.
The idea of the referendum began as a consequence of PDL Bucharest president Elena Udrea’s proposal to reorganise the local council status of Bucharest.