site.btaBucharest Mayoral Candidates Make Unconventional Promises Ahead of Sunday Election

With just five days to go until the Bucharest mayoral election, some of the candidates are making far-fetched promises, some of which are impossible to achieve, reports the newspaper Adevarul in an article on the subject.

Formula 1 Grand Prix in Bucharest?

Lazar Rares, an entrepreneur and deputy chairman of the Romania in Action party has proposed the idea of organizing a Formula 1 race in Bucharest. He is also the youngest candidate in the mayoral race at just 32-years old.

"Formula 1 means asphalt that lasts and a city that learns to move efficiently," he argued on the national TV channel TVR. According to his calculations, the project would cost over EUR 100 million.

However, the newspaper Adevarul notes that the municipality allocates a similar amount to pay benefits to people with disabilities and adds that the new mayor of Bucharest will also have to find co-financing for major projects, such as the rehabilitation of tram lines and the replacement of heating pipes.

Free public transport

Anca Alexandrescu, an independent candidate and journalist with the Romanian television station Realitatea, has proposed an idea that was previously suggested by Gabriela Firea, the former mayor of Bucharest, namely free public transport.

"Today I looked at the figures and talked to some experts. Did you know that, through effort and by earning money from tourism and other activities, we could make public transport in Bucharest free by bringing money into the capital's budget from other resources? Currently, the municipality subsidises 80% of transport in Bucharest. We need to work on urban mobility", she told the newspaper Adevarul.

Free parking

Another independent candidate, Gheorghe Netoiu - a former shareholder of the Dinamo Bucuresti football club - wants to abolish parking charges in the Romanian capital.

"The biggest problem in Bucharest right now is traffic. If I become mayor, drivers won't pay a single leu for parking," Netoiu told the online publication Fanatic.

In addition to depriving the municipality of an important source of income,such a measure would most likely lead to a shortage of parking spaces in key areas, as has happened in other cities that have implemented a similar policy, according to the newspaper Adevarul.

According to the media, the idea proposed by his opponent, the independent candidate and former MEP Eugen Teodorovici, is more realistic. Inspired by the price promised by former Romanian presidential candidate Catalin Georgescu for a litre of fuel, the former finance minister says he wants to charge one leu (about 0.2 euros) per hour for parking, which is five times lower than the current price.

"If I become mayor, from December 8, parking in Bucharest will cost only one leu. From 5 lei, which is what it currently costs per hour, it will become 1 leu everywhere in Bucharest", Teodorovici promises in a video posted on TikTok.

Heating and hot water at half price

The Young People's Party candidate, George Burcea, proposes halving the cost of hot water and heating. Currently, heating energy costs approximately 350 lei/Gcal (140 BGN) and hot water costs around 30 lei/cubic metre (12 BGN). Despite Bucharest being the most prosperous city, these prices are among the lowest in the country, according to Adevarul.

Ban on LGBT community parades

Mihai Ioan Lazar, a former member of the nationalist Alliance for the Union of Romanians deputy and current Party of Patriots of the Romanian People member, promises to ban parades organised by the LGBT community. In theory, the mayor can ban an event, but in practice, participants can ignore such a ban.