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The Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (RMDSZ) confirmed its strong presence in the municipalities of Szeklerland during the local elections in Romania on Sunday. In most towns, re-elected mayors won confidently, and the minority party expects to gain more seats in the municipalities.
In Harghita County, Barna Botond Bíró will become the county council president in autumn, having won confidently in Scaunul Odorheiu. The president of the Odorheiu Secuiesc (Székelyudvarhely) regional organization announced that votes for the county council president and the county list were 14,000 more than four years ago, and votes for mayors were 12,000 more.
In the 31-member Harghita County Council, RMDSZ will have 24 municipal representatives and retain its 21 mayors in Odorheiu County.
In Miercurea Ciuc (Csíkszereda), Mayor Attila Korodi won again with 73% of the votes. Korodi said the RMDSZ has the confidence of three-quarters of the population and thanked the Romanian community for their support. In the new local government to be formed in autumn, the RMDSZ will have 16 representatives, the Hungarian Association of Transylvania (EMSZ) will have two, and the Social Democratic Party (PSD) will have one.
Odorheiu Secuiesc will again be led by an RMDSZ mayor after two election cycles. István Szakács-Paál won his seat by a large margin and will have a majority in the council. Zoltán Nagy, former mayor of Gheorgheni (Gyergyószentmiklós), will become an independent mayor in autumn and plans to hold talks on cooperation with other party representatives in the municipality.
In Cristuru Secuiesc (Székelykeresztúr), Hunor-János Koncz of the EPP-led mayor’s party has been re-elected, but the RMDSZ will have a majority in the council. In Covasna County, Sándor Tamás, the re-elected council president, received more than 70% of the vote, and Árpád Antal, the mayor of Sfântu Gheorghe (Sepsiszentgyörgy), received more than 80%.
The local government of Târgu Secuiesc (Kézdivásárhely) will be composed solely of RMDSZ representatives, with no other Hungarian party or Romanian political group winning a seat.
In Târgu Secuiesc, Covasna, and Barót, RMDSZ mayors won again. It now has 34 mayors in the Szekler counties and expects to win more seats. In Mureș County, Ferenc Péter won again for the RMDSZ, while Zoltán Soós secured another mayoral mandate in Târgu Mureș (Marosvásárhely) as an independent. The RMDSZ has 38 mayors in Mureș County and secured two independent seats supported by the alliance.
A dispute erupted within the National Liberal Party (PNL) in Mureș County after two MPs called on county president Ciprian Dobre and vice-president Alexandru George to resign following their defeat in the local elections.
RMDSZ, currently member of the EPP group, has also secured two mandates for the European Parliament during the weekend’s elections, a great result for the embattled Hungarian community in Romania.
Via MTI; Featured Image: Facebook / Kelemen Hunor