Over 550 Romanian mayors change political parties

A sixth of the 3,180 mayors in Romania - or some 552 mayors - changed their political party, following an emergency ordinance allowing them to do so. Meanwhile, 184 of the 1,338 county counselors migrated to other parties while 4,607 of the 40,022 local counselors also changed parties, reports local Hotnews.ro. The ordinance allowed mayors and local/county counselors to choose another party within 45 days, without losing their positions. Romanian think-tank Expert Forum presented on Wednesday, January 28, the final report on the elected officials who switched their political options as a result of the Emergency Ordinance 55/2014. The most affected counties were Giurgiu, where 73% of the mayors changed options, Neamt (50%) and Buzau (38%). The Social Democrat Party (PSD) lost four mayors and won 436, while the Liberal Party (PNL) lost 265 mayors and won six. The Government, run by the PSD, pushed this emergency ordinance in early – September 2014, two months before the presidential elections. editor@romania-insider.com