Székelyudvarhely was conquered by the RMDSZ, which is expected to enter the EP

After eight years, he managed to recapture the mother city of Székely

István Szakács-Paál, the RMDSZ candidate, won the mayoral election in Székelyudvarhely with a significant margin in the local authority election held on Sunday.

István Szakács-Paál announced his victory late on Sunday evening, after the polls had closed, after he suffered a heavy defeat for incumbent mayor Árpád Gálfi based on the partial results.

"I can proudly announce that we won," said the RMDSZ mayoral candidate, thanking the people of Székelyudvar for their trust.

Szakács-Paál's victory means that the RMDSZ managed to recapture the mother city of Székely after eight years, whose management was taken over by Árpád Gálfi from Levente Bunta in 2016. The RMDSZ candidate - who won the mayor's office with more than 70 percent of the votes - promised to be the mayor of all Székelyudvarhelys, and then thanked his competitors for conducting the election campaign in a fair manner.

Zoltán Soós won by defeating Dorin Florea in Marosvásárhely

In Marosvásárhely, considered one of the "front towns" of Hungarians in Transylvania, according to the participation data published by the Romanian Central Election Office, 62,637 people voted in Sunday's Romanian local authority and EP elections, which is 52.30 percent of the electorate.

According to the parallel vote count of the RMDSZ, Soós came out on top with a considerable advantage, with more than 22,000 votes, while former mayor Dorin Florea, who was in second place, collected 16,000 votes. The numbers were still not fully processed, when votes were counted in 77 out of 85 polling stations.

Soós entered the race as the only Hungarian candidate, supported by the Romanian Hungarian Democratic Association (RMDSZ) and the Transylvanian Hungarian Association (EMSZ). After the parallel vote count that lasted until Monday morning, the independent candidate announced his victory himself, stressing that it was more difficult to win this year than four years ago, as he had to fight against Dorin Florea himself, not the "puppet" of the former mayor.

"Marosvásárhely gave a clear and unambiguous answer: it does not ask for more of this, neither from puppets, nor from the former mayor himself, nor from his legacy"

Zoltán Soós declared in the video published on his Facebook page. As a candidate for a second mandate, he assessed that the city wants to develop and that he and his team would like to continue the work they have started.

Zoltán Soós won 50.54 percent of the votes as an independent mayoral candidate in 2020 with the support of the Hungarian parties. According to the data of the most recent Romanian census, Marosvásárhely, with its 116,000 inhabitants, has the largest Hungarian community of about 40,000 among the Transylvanian cities.

Gábor Kerskényi also manages to make a comeback in Szatmárnémeti

According to the partial results, Gábor Kerskényi also succeeds in making a comeback in Szatmárnémeti. According to the data of the central election office, 96,060 voters, 44.87 percent of those entitled to vote, went to the polls in the seat of Szatmár County. Kereskényi, who is running in the colors of the RMDSZ, announced his victory on his Facebook page on Monday morning, after it was revealed that he was leading in 18 of the 74 voting districts, with 65 percent.

It was assessed that a non-ethnic vote took place, the citizens of the city voted for development, regardless of nationality, for the results achieved so far, and the people who live here must continue to move forward together on the path of development

. He pointed out: Csaba Pataki and Szatmár county council chairman candidate were attacked by some Romanian parties, but the people of Szatmár proved with their vote that the results are important to them.

In Szatmárnémeti, which has a population of 91,000 and 28,152 Hungarians, Gábor Kerskényi obtained the mayor's office in 2016 after one term as a social democratic city manager. He was re-elected in 2020 with 52 percent of the vote.

The RMDSZ announced that, based on the parallel vote counting, the association managed to keep the mayor's seat in the Romanian-majority Szászrégen in Maros County, where Mayor Márk Endre was able to win again.

Source: Kronika.ro / MTI / Civilek.info

Cover photo: Kelemen Hunor, president of the Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (RMDSZ) makes a statement at the association's results event on the day of the Romanian local government and European Parliament elections in Cluj on June 9, 2024.
Next to him are spokesperson Csoma Botond (b) and Gyula Winkler, EP list leader of the RMDSZ (j). MTI/Gábor Kiss