Hundreds of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) supporters, flanked by gendarmes, protested on Wednesday evening in Victoriei Square and later in front of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) headquarters in Kisellef Boulevard against the intention of the governing coalition to merge the local elections with the European Parliament ones this year year.
The demonstrators chose as a form of protest the simulation of a funeral procession, to the tunes of the brass band.
The protest started in Victoriei Square, and later the participants marched to the PSD headquarters, where they lit candles "in memory of democracy" in Romania.
Mihai Enache, the president of AUR Bucharest, declared that merging local elections with European parliamentary elections "will only cause confusion" and will be at the disadvantage of all those who want to vote knowingly.
"Merging local elections with European parliamentary elections will only cause confusion and will be at the disadvantage of all those who want to vote in an informed manner. The citizens of Bucharest need to know in advance what their options are and what are the plans for the city in which they live", said Enache, according to a press release from AUR.
In the view of the demonstrators, the merger shows that PSD and National Liberal Party "are pursuing their own privileges at the expense of democracy".