Less known to Romanians, Mihai Polițeanu is one of the last names to confirm in mioritic politics. Starting as an outsider in the race for Ploiești City Hall, Polițeanu pulled off a big surprise and conquered the oil city as an independent.
Mihai Polițeanu struck in Ploiesti and overturned the paper's calculations. Although it is said that incumbent mayors can hardly be defeated or that it is much more difficult for independents to win a mayoralty, Polițeanu managed to overcome both disadvantages. A former member of the USR, he left the party two years ago after being marginalized by the leadership.
Although he has not been in the spotlight and is not a well-known politician in the country, Mihai Polițeanu has performed in an important field since 20 years ago. “In 2001, as a master's student, I worked in the office of Vasile Lupu, former parliamentarian and creator of the famous Law 1/2000 on the return to peasants of the lands confiscated by the communist regime. It was the first contact with the political area that I had and I keep a beautiful memory of this tough and determined man”Polițeanu writes on his official page.
Graduated in Philosophy and Law, he worked in 2005 as a communication officer within the Romanian Academic Society during the largest civic project in Romania for political integrity (Coalition for a Clean Parliament), and in 2002, for a semester , was an assistant at the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Bucharest, an unpaid position.
He left USR in 2022
The politician originally from Ploiești was also an advisor to the Ministry of Justice. “Before getting involved in the civic movement, between 2005 and 2007 I was an adviser to the Minister of Justice, during the period when the foundations of the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) and the National Integrity Agency (ANI) were laid, between 2007-2009 I former manager of anti-corruption projects within the Freedom House Romania foundation and from 2009 to 2015 I was an assistant at the European Parliament – MEP Monica Macovei“, writes Polițeanu.
Between 2019 and 2022 he was a member of USR, but left this party. He also explained the reasons that led him to make this choice. “In the fall of 2022, I resigned from USR, disappointed by the subordination of USR Prahova to PNL at the local and county level. Together with several colleagues and friends, we decided to lay the foundations and build an alternative for Ploiesti to the current local political class”, are the words of Mihai Polițeanu.
He won the mayor's seat of Ploiești with 25.22% of the votes
Regarding the new composition of the Ploiești Local Council, Mihai Polițeanu stated that the political goal is for the Social Democratic Party and the National Liberal Party to be in opposition.
“Obviously, there will be discussions and I obviously want a stable majority that works in the interest of the people of Ploiešte, and I think that the people of Ploiešte are tired of 4 years of scandal, howling, shouting, decisions made only in the interest of the party or in their own interest which were in direct, frontal contradiction with the interests of Ploieşti and the people of Ploieşti. (…) The political objective that I stated in the campaign – I don't know if it is possible considering the political configuration of the Local Council – is to send PSD and PNL into the opposition. Mathematically, with the current results, it is a feasible result, but we have to have discussions“, claimed the new mayor of Ploieşti.
According to the partial results, Mihai Polițeanu won the elections at the Ploiești City Hall with 25.22% of the votes, in front of the liberal candidate Bogdan Nica – 20.21% and the mayor Andrei Volosevici (PSD) – 19.6%.
