Nicusor Dan has scored a remarkable victory to be voted Bucharest mayor for a second time (after previously losing the race two times), snatching about 44% of the votes, about 20% more than his nearest rival, the former mayor Gabriela Firea, early results show. It’s an impressive win for someone who doesn’t fit the mold of a typical Bucharester or typical politician.
Along with Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, Mr. Dan is one of the big winners in the June 9 local elections. „We won’t take this new mandate you gave us for granted!” he thundered after the polls were published.
Like Mr. Ciolacu, Mr. Dan is not charismatic, and there’s a lot of things he’s failed to do in his four years in office. He didn’t build anything as grandiose as the National Arena sport’s venue (that was Sorin Oprescu, who was later arrested for corruption and then fled Romania). Former mayor Ms. Firea built the fountains in Unirii Square that shoot up like an electric light orchestra in the summer and she organized pretty Christmas fairs (but she’s been linked to cronyism, overspending on vanity and personal projects, and was accused of being complicit in the ‘horror care homes’, revelations of appalling abuse and squalid conditions in homes for the elderly and disabled that came out last year.) Former mayor–later President– Traian Basescu rid the city streets of thousands of stray dogs to the relief of residents (thereby incurring the wrath of animal rights activist Brigitte Bardot).
But Nicusor Dan has done some things right: some of the unglamorous, dirty work his predecessors shunned. He paid off millions of euros debts accrued by Ms Firea on wild vanity projects and got down to the nitty gritty of overhauling the city’s massive and antiquated 50-year-old underground heating system that delivers hot water and heating to half the city’s residents.
His success is also down to temperament and character rather than artifice. One, there are no accusations of corruption against him, something you can’t say about other former Bucharest mayors and some of the candidates who ran against him. Two, he seems less arrogant and fired up than his opponents—Bucharesters have enough tension and noise in their everyday lives without the mayor adding to the fire. The 54-year-old mathematician also seems more chilled or ‚normal’ than his opponents, an elusive but sought-after quality in Romanian politics, especially during the pandemic and with the war in Ukraine at Romania’s border. President Klaus Iohannis ran two successful campaigns on bringing ‚normality’ to Romanian life.
The re-elected mayor also appears have good manners in a city where bad manners are everywhere and detrimental to quality of life. Definitely a plus at the ballot box. He doesn’t rile too many people.
When critics are making fun of him, they draw caricatures of his mop of thick curly hair (which he sometimes cuts)– with birds nesting in it, or portraying him as a sheep. If that’s the worst they can hurl at him, he’s one lucky politician.
Nicusor (litte Nick) as everyone calls him isn’t overtly political, and in Romanian public life, everything is politicized. He’s informally supported by the ruling coalition, and is generally viewed to be on the center-right of politics, but nobody sees him as a stooge of any party, certainly not the nationalistic AUR or the hard left of the PSD.
Another advantage that fell into his lucky lap is that the city of two million is looking pretty gorgeous this June. It’s bursting with greenery, outdoor cafes and restaurants and a funky mix of done-up old buildings and modern new builds. Not all of this is necessarily his doing, but it was boon for his campaign. As Ella Fitzgerald crooned: „Summer time and the living is easy.” The feel-good factor helped him get back in.
There are plenty of things he could do in his next term. Renovate some more old buildings; improve public transport and decongest traffic; make the city even more attractive for visitors – like cracking down on the taxi drivers who rip off tourists at the airport; take a stab at depoliticizing management in public hospitals. Maybe build, or renovate or knock down a memorable building (like one of the communist-era behemoths) to really leave a mark.
I have a simple task that he could start off with which would better the lives of thousands. He could build a bus stop. Not any old bus stop, but a particular one outside Bucharest’s Baneasa Mall; a proper bus stop that has benches and a roof that show the city cares about people who ride public transport.
There are 14 bus routes that stop on the DN1 outside the Baneasa Mall– ferrying people to the suburbs, the airport and villages north of Bucharest. Fourteen different buses stop there to pick up passengers weighed down with shopping who wait on a narrow sidewalk or straggly grass, come rain or shine, with no shelter or place to sit. What a disgrace– and in one of the poshest parts of town.
If Nicusor Dan won this elections on being a regular guy, one of the first things he could do would be to build a proper bus stop. Something for ordinary folk.
Romania’s government scores decisive victory in elections, hard-right party big losers
