Nicușor Dan wants to organize a referendum on November 24, simultaneously with the first round of the presidential elections, but the president of AEP, Toni Greblă, says that the law does not allow such local referendums. At the same time, Greblă is of the opinion that the referendum will not solve the problems pointed out by the general mayor of the Capital.
Toni Greblă, the president of the Permanent Electoral Authority, explained that the referendum works as a signal for the legislator to amend the law, but it does not have binding force. It serves to indicate that a significant portion of the population wants a certain regulation. Even if the result of the referendum were favorable, it will not necessarily change the powers and powers already divided between the general mayor and the sector mayors.
“The referendum is a signal for the legislator to change the law, it does not have a binding force by itself, but as a way to signal to the legislator that a good part of the population wants such a regulation. If the referendum comes out yes, but the referendum itself does not change anything in the attributions, the shared powers of the general mayor and the sector mayors“, Toni Greblă, President of the Permanent Electoral Authority, declared for “Adevărul”.
Law 3/2000 does not provide for the possibility of such a referendum
Also, Greblă emphasized that, according to Law 3 of 2000, the organization of a local referendum is not allowed, only national referendums can be held during the general elections or during the presidential elections.
“This would be a local referendum within the meaning of the law, the law does not provide for such a possibility. You can only organize national, not local, referendums during general elections or presidential elections“, Toni Greblă, the President of the Permanent Electoral Authority, explained for Adevărul.
We will see if it will materialize into something
Even the sociologist Barbu Mateescu does not believe that a referendum will bring the changes desired by the mayor Nicușor Dan.
“It is not very clear to me what the required level of attendance should be, but in the context of the presidential elections, if I try to mentally allocate how the voters are likely to be distributed to each person running for the presidency in Bucharest, I believe that the referendum will obtain the support of a majority . I think it will be very hard for the NO camp to counter. On the other hand, Romania has an unfortunate tradition of referendums that take some decisions, which are not implemented in anything in the legislation. We will see to what extent a referendum that gets the majority of the votes of those present will materialize into something“, sociologist Barbu Mateescu declared for “Adevărul”.
“NO” in the referendum means that “The fight for several years for the nomination of the candidate for the mayor’s office would begin”
Barbu Mateescu is of the opinion that, if the majority votes “NO” in the referendum, Nicușor Dan will have difficulties, although he will not lose his mandate. He pointed out that incidents of this type, such as the recent one in Piata Unirii, will become more and more frequent, as sector mayors who are hostile to him will tend to assume more and more duties. Mateescu added that, in this context, the PSD will start an intense competition for the nomination of the candidate for the mayor’s office, and the fight for the local elections in 2028 will become very present for all PSD members in Bucharest.
“It will be very difficult for Nicușor Dan because, on the other hand, he will not lose his mandate, but incidents like the one I saw a few days ago will be more and more, in the sense that the mayors of sectors that are hostile to him will assume more and more duties. And also, very very important, in the PSD at that moment the fight for several years for the nomination of the candidate for the mayor’s office would begin. So suddenly the fight for the local elections in 2028 becomes very, very present for absolutely everyone in PSD Bucharest”, Barbu Mateescu also explained.
Nicușor Dan: I called the General Council meeting for Monday, October 21
We remind you that Nicusor Dan convened a meeting of the General Council on October 21, at 10:00 a.m., to discuss two referendum projects for the citizens of Bucharest. Citizens will be asked if they support approving the distribution of income taxes and local taxes by the General Council and if the Mayor General should issue building permits for the entire city.
“I called the General Council meeting for Monday, October 21, at 10:00 a.m., in which the two projects regarding the consultation of the citizens of Bucharest through a referendum are on the agenda.
If these decisions are approved by the general councilors, the referendum will take place on November 24, simultaneously with the first round of the presidential elections.
The two questions to which I invite the citizens of Bucharest to say “YES” or “NO” are the following:
1. Do you agree that the distribution between the Bucharest City Hall and the District City Halls of income taxes and local taxes and fees collected from the citizens of Bucharest should be approved by the General Council of the City of Bucharest?
2. Do you agree that the General Mayor of the Municipality of Bucharest should issue the Building Authorizations for the entire administrative territory of the city?“, Nicușor Dan wrote on his Facebook page.
