Call to responsibility

This is neither the first nor the last time that some political leaders are dissatisfied with sociological research. We have become accustomed to such hostile positions, even if sometimes the tone exceeds the limits of responsibility in denigratory public discourse. But, obviously, it is not my job to judge this. We have institutions of the rule of law and voters who have the legitimacy to do so in our democratic regime.

A year ago, a leader of the PNL was very dissatisfied that in the INSCOP polls, the party's candidate, Mr. Nicolae Ciucă, did not exceed 9%. Anathemas and threats were flowing towards us. To his credit, the candidate himself managed to be a decent, honorable man and avoided such public derailments. At that moment, in November 2024, some sociological research companies appeared in parallel that provided double scores for the mentioned PNL candidate. The elections came on November 24, and his score was exactly what was in the INSCOP polls - 9%.

These days, the story is repeating itself, with the candidate of another party (USR) in the elections for the Capital City Hall, but the intensity of the slanders and attacks is infinitely greater, correlated with irresponsibility. This time, the candidate of another party is dissatisfied. Ironically, now we are placed in the camp that a year ago was fiery against us. Ironically, these slanders are happening under the conditions in which both the candidate and his team have their own measurements similar to those presented by INSCOP. And the absolute irony is that the same polling companies that last year presented double figures for the PNL candidate in the presidential elections (figures obviously unconfirmed in the elections) are now presenting almost double figures for the upset candidate. To his credit, the president of the party (USR) has maintained decency and avoided unnecessary derailments.

And now the cosmic irony! In 2020, when INSCOP published opinion polls showing that Nicușor Dan would defeat Gabriela Firea in the race for the mayoralty (when no one conceived such a scenario, except for the candidate, of course, and 2-3 supporters among whom was not the honorary advisor of the president today, who then dreamed of being the USR mayor and chased Nicușor Dan with his own "polls" that presented him equal to Mr. Dan), accusations flowed that we were USRists and manipulating. The reality we know. Nicușor Dan won the elections and became mayor, just as INSCOP estimated.

And in 2020 and in 2024 and in 2025 and in 2014 when we achieved the best estimate of the results of an election (the first round of the presidential elections in 2014) in the history of post-December measurements, we were the same. Not perfect, we also made mistakes, but independent and dedicated to our work. Together with our team, with our research director (Darie Cristea, a long-term professional, the vice-dean of the Faculty of Sociology) we have been active for 12 years and we must protect our reputation in the face of aggressive political attacks. First and foremost through the honest work we have been doing for over a decade. And, to their credit, most political leaders have managed to be decent and critical within acceptable limits.

We have never harmed anyone with polls and never have we accepted to live, on devices, any political project. Romanian politics is diverse and quite large. And no one, but no one from the political life of the last 12 years can claim otherwise regarding our correct conduct.

The electoral campaign for the mayoralty has begun and I will avoid any further comments in the next two weeks. Each candidate has their chance to become the general mayor, and this must be respected. We will conduct independent measurements in the last week, to capture developments in the campaign and we will mind our own business. And the vote on December 7 will confirm who was right. Good luck to all candidates. Our city needs a good mayor, voted by the maximum possible number of Bucharest residents.