Polls: Independent candidate supported by ex president wins mayor of Bucharest (Jun 16, 2008)

BUCHAREST, Romania: Exit polls reported Sunday that an independent candidate who was supported by the leftist opposition won the runoff vote for mayor of Bucharest by 10 points.

Sorin Oprescu recently quit the Social Democratic Party to run for mayor, saying he had more chances as an independent.

"Your vote is one of the loveliest days for our young democracy. For the first time, Bucharest has an independent mayor," he said after the Insomar exit poll gave him 54.3 percent of the vote, and another exit poll gave him 54.5 percent.

Oprescu's swaggering manner and sometimes earthy way of speaking appeals to some residents of the overcrowded capital of more than 2 million. He is a doctor and says that he is proud to be the son of a general of the feared former Securitate secret police. He was deputy Bucharest mayor from 2000 until 2004. He was supported in the runoff by former President Ion Iliescu and the Social Democratic Party he recently quit said they supported him.

Oprescu defeated ex-Interior Minister Vasile Blaga, who is not from Bucharest. Blaga was supported by President Traian Basescu.

After the exit poll was announced, Blaga said that he had refrained from running a "populist" campaign and did not regret it. Blaga received 45.7 percent of the vote according to the Insomar poll, and 45.5 percent according to the CCSB poll. Insomar is one of the most reliable polling institutions in Romania.

Early official results on Monday showed a stronger lead for Oprescu.

Romanians voted Sunday in the runoff round of local elections, which are closely scrutinized for indications of the likely result of parliamentary polls later in the year.

After the first round of voting, the opposition leftist Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the centrist Democratic Liberal Party (PDL) both got just over 28 percent. The governing center-right National Liberal Party received 18.65 percent of the vote.

There were runoffs Sunday for some 1,500 mayoral seats, out of a nationwide total of some 3,200.

Source: Associated Press