Sorin Oprescu

Sorin Mircea Oprescu (Romanian pronunciation: [soˈrin oˈpresku]; born 7 November 1951) is a Romanian independent politician and medical doctor who was Mayor of Bucharest between 2008 and 2015.

Dr.

Sorin Oprescu
General Mayor of Bucharest
In office
19 June 2008 – 15 September 2015
Preceded byAdriean Videanu
Succeeded byMarin Ștefănel Dan (interim)
Member of the Senate of Romania
In office
11 December 2000 – 23 June 2008
Personal details
Born (1951-11-07) 7 November 1951
Bucharest, Romania
NationalityRomanian
Political partyIndependent
Other political
affiliations		PSD (1990-2008)

Political activity

Oprescu first ran for Mayor of Bucharest in 1998 backed by the Party of Social Democracy in Romania (PDSR), the precursor to the modern-day Social Democratic Party (PSD). He was eliminated in the first round with 19.3% of the vote, losing to incumbent Viorel Lis.[1] He ran again in 2000, achieving the highest first-round total (40.12%)[2] but losing in the second round with 49.31% to winner Traian Basescu's 50.69%.[3]

He was one of the independent candidates running for president of Romania in the presidential elections which took place on 22 November 2009. He was eliminated in the first round with 3.18% of the vote (5th place), and was involved in a notable Condorcet cycle with Mircea Geoana and eventual winner Traian Basescu.[4]

He was a senator representing the Social Democratic Party (PSD) between 2000 and April 2008, serving as the vice-president of the Senate Committee for Public Health. Oprescu resigned from the Senate on 24 June 2008.[5]

In February 2006, Oprescu also became the president of the Social Democratic Party's Bucharest branch, a position from which he stepped down upon quitting the party in April 2008.

In 2008, after the Social Democratic Party refused to nominate him to the mayoral elections, he ran as an independent candidate. He earned the most votes in the first round of the elections. In the second round against the Democratic-Liberal Party (PDL) candidate Vasile Blaga, with the support of the Liberals and Social-Democrats (who announced they would support anyone who ran against the Democratic-Liberals), he won with 56.55% of the vote.[6] Nevertheless, the Social-Democrat mayor of Bucharest's Sector 2, Neculai Onţanu, announced he supported Blaga,[7] while the Social-Democrat mayor of Sector 5, Marian Vanghelie, announced he would not support Oprescu and accused him of being a "cheap demagogue".[8]

Conviction

In September 2015, he was arrested on charges of corruption.[9] On 15 September 2015, being deposed by Bucharest's Prefect upon a courts' decision to maintain Oprescu's arrest, an interim successor was elected from one of the city's deputy-mayors.[10]

Electoral history

Mayor of Bucharest
Election Affiliation First round Second round
Votes Percentage Position Votes Percentage Position
1998 PDSR111,759
19.3%
 2nd –
2000 PDSR260,689
41.16%
 1st 353,038
49.31%
 2nd 
2008 Independent164,219
30.12%
 1st 315,981
56.31%
 1st 
2012 Independent
(supported by USL)		430,512
54.79%
 1st 

Presidential elections
Election Affiliation First round Second round
Votes Percentage Position Votes Percentage Position
2009 Independent309,764
3.18%
 6th not qualified

References
  1. "Toamna se numara voturile > EVZ.ro". 19 August 2012. Archived from the original on 19 August 2012. Retrieved 13 February 2016.CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  2. "Our Campaigns - Bucharest Mayor Race - Jun 04, 2000". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved 13 February 2016.
  3. "Our Campaigns - Bucharest Mayor Race - Jun 18, 2000". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved 13 February 2016.
  4. "RangeVoting.org - The Romanian 2009 presidential election featured Condorcet cycles". rangevoting.org. Retrieved 13 February 2016.
  5. "Sorin Oprescu a demisionat din Parlament", Gândul 23 June 2008
  6. "Alianţe electorale ale partidelor împotriva PD-L", BBC Romanian, 3 June 2008
  7. "Onţanu îl sprijină pe Blaga!" Archived 5 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine, Evenimentul Zilei, 3 June 2008
  8. "Vanghelie: „Oprescu e un demagog ieftin“" Archived 2008-06-07 at Archive.today, Evenimentul Zilei, 5 June 2008
  9. "Romania corruption: Bucharest mayor arrested", BBC, 6 September 2015, retrieved 7 September 2015
  10. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 17 September 2015. Retrieved 15 September 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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