A genuine left-wing party in Romania would greatly erode AUR's electoral base, study shows

The emergence of a left-wing party that would stand for the interests of the poorer part of Romania (and implicitly the working-class diaspora) would have an extremely unfavorable impact on the future of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), according to "The Unheard Diaspora" – a qualitative study conducted by IRES and sociologist Barbu Mateescu, commissioned by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS) Romania.

"The 40% of the country's AUR is not entirely the AUR score. These people want change, renunciation of the current political class. [AUR's leader George] Simion is the tolerated wife, but it is not the love from the heart. Love goes to the left, the wife is from the right," sociologist Barbu Mateescu explained to G4Media.ro.

The report shows that the voters of Nicușor Dan in the second round of the presidential elections, against AUR's leader Simion, have a higher degree of integration in the communities where they live; to a significant extent George Simion's voters feel "condemned" (to live outside the country), their emotional relationship with Romania and even self-identification with the population in the country being significantly stronger.

(Photo source: Inquam Photos/Ilona Andrei)