Romania’s local elections: why has the ‘old guard’ done so well?

The fall of Victor Ponta’s PSD government in November 2015 was supposed to usher in a new era of politics for Romania. However, local elections held on 5 June resulted in victories for the PSD across the country, including in Bucharest, with several politicians who are either under investigation, or even (in one case) currently in jail, being elected. Daniel Brett assesses how and why the ‘old guard’ did so well in the vote and what the results tell us about politics and corruption issues in Romania.