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Health Education Nature Sustainability Party

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Health, Education, Nature, Sustainability Party
Partidul Sănătate, Educație, Natură, Sustenabilitate
AbbreviationSENS
PresidentAndrei Macsut
Founded28 September 2023 (2023-09-28)
Headquarters23, Camil Ressu Boulevard, Sector 3, Bucharest
IdeologyProgressivism
Green politics
Political positionCentre-left to left-wing
European Parliament groupGreens–European Free Alliance
European Parliament
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Website
https://www.cusens.eu/

The Health, Education, Nature, Sustainability Party (Romanian: Partidul Sănătate, Educație, Natură, Sustenabilitate), commonly known by the abbreviation SENS (meaning "Sense", "Meaning", or "Direction" in Romanian), is a minor political party in Romania closely associated with progressive independent MEP Nicolae Ștefănuță. Amongst its most well known members are Florina Presadă and Ana Ciceală.[1]

History

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SENS was founded by current party president Andrei Macsut in 2023. The party won two seats in the 2024 local elections.[2] The party successfully supported the candidacy of Nicolae Ștefănuță to the European Parliament.

In September 2024, former senator and director of LGBTQ rights organisation ACCEPT Florina Presadă and former Bucharest city councillor Ana Ciceală joined the party.[3][4]

After successfully collecting the required ten thousand signatures, SENS was able to compete in the 2024 parliamentary election.[5][6][7] Despite being popular with the youth, the party only won 2.99% of the votes, less than the 5% required to gain representation.[8] SENS also requested independent observation of the recount for the presidential election.[9]

Ideology and political positions

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SENS is a centre-left progressive party and prioritises the protection of the environment, social justice, and social inclusion.[10][11]

SENS supports the introduction of same-sex civil unions, the systemic tackling of discrimination against the Roma people, and the unconditional right to abortion.[12]

To combat climate change, SENS prioritises the decarbonisation of the Romanian energy system, reforestation, and protection against droughts and floods. The party aims to modernise railroads, encourage eco-friendly public transport, and expand the Henri Coanda Airport.[13]

With regards to health, the party supports the modernisation of hospitals, the ensured right to abortion in safe conditions, and coverage of therapy by health insurance. Alongside REPER,[14] SENS supports the decriminalization of possession for the purpose of consumption of all psychoactive substances,[15][16] opposing the Ciolacu cabinet on this issue.[17]

In an Instagram post on October 7, 2024, 1 year after the Hamas attack on Israel, SENS strongly condemned Israel's military actions in the Gaza Strip, which SENS considers not acts of war, but genocide against Palestinian civilians.[18]

Analysis

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Political scientist Cristian Pîrvulescu estimated that SENS could obtain more than 5% in the 2024 election, mainly ex-USR voters. He thinks that, through this party, Nicu Ștefănuță is trying to prove to his colleagues in the European Parliament that environmental politics have a future in Romania.[19]

In the last week before the Parliamentary elections, a trend was observed on TikTok that misinformed the voters of Calin Georgescu, the winner of the first round of presidential elections (later annulled by the CCR decision of 06.12. 2024), that SENS would be the party he supported in the legislative elections. Several cases of votes for SENS from voters of Calin Georgescu, fooled by disinformation on social networks, were reported.[20] The Sens Party denied links to that disinformation campaign.[21]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Mihăescu, Alexandru (2024-10-08). "Ana Ciceală și Florina Presadă deschid listele de candidați pentru București ale partidului SENS". G4Media.ro (in Romanian). Retrieved 2024-12-04.
  2. ^ Bacau, Ziarul de (2024-05-07). "Luptă strânsă pentru Primăria Bacău! Rezultatele sondajului realizat de Cristian Ghingheș (SENS)". Ziarul de Bacău (in Romanian). Retrieved 2024-12-04.
  3. ^ Ana Ciceală deschide lista de candidați la Senat pentru București, din partea partidului SENS!, DC News, 2024-05-07
  4. ^ Florina Presadă deschide lista de candidați la Camera Deputaților pentru București, din partea partidului SENS, DC News, 2024-10-08
  5. ^ Partidul SENS, susținut de Nicu Ștefănuță, a strâns semnăturile necesare pentru a candida la parlamentare, Hotnews.ro, 2024-10-17
  6. ^ Alegeri parlamentare 2024. Cine sunt candidați eligibili pentru noul Parlament al României, Euronews, 2024-10-18
  7. ^ 23 de partide și alianțe au depus liste de candidați, ProTV, 2024-10-22
  8. ^ SENS, REPER și DREPT, trei partide pro-europene, NU vor intra în Parlament, Realitatea, 2024-12-02
  9. ^ Partidul SENS solicită prezența observatorilor independenți la renumărarea voturilor, G4Media, 2024-11-28
  10. ^ Cine se află în fruntea formațiunii SENS și ce program politic propune, DC News, 2024-09-13
  11. ^ Ana Ciceală, candidată a partidului SENS, despre alegerile parlamentare, Radio France Internationale, 2024-11-12
  12. ^ Florina Presadă, fostă directoare ACCEPT: „Dacă vedem tineri care se duc spre extremism, este pentru că au fost lăsați de izbeliște de către celelalte partide”, Libertatea, 2024-10-13
  13. ^ Programul Politic SENS 2025-2028 (PDF)
  14. ^ Dezincriminarea posesiei de canabis pentru consum propriu în limita a 3 grame, G4Media, 2024-05-08
  15. ^ https://panorama.ro/tineri-electorat-alegeri-partid-progresist-parlament/
  16. ^ "SENS se descrie drept un partid „deschis tinerilor, ecologiștilor, studenților, minorităților, digitalizării, curajului". Printre prioritățile asumate de SENS în programul de guvernare se numără: dezincriminarea posesiei în vederea consumului a tuturor substanțelor psihoactive". panormana.ro (in Romanian). 2024-11-29.
  17. ^ Ministrul Justiției se opune dezincriminării posesiei de canabis în limita a 3 grame, Digi24, 2024-05-08
  18. ^ https://www.instagram.com/p/DA1PA4oO3Mm/?igsh=MXU0N20zaXNzOHBtNw==
  19. ^ "Se complică ecuația alegerilor. Partidele DREPT și SENS îi pot încurca pe Geoană și pe Elena Lasconi. „Împreună ar fi redutabile"" (in Romanian). Ziare.com. Retrieved 2024-10-22.
  20. ^ https://observatornews.ro/alegeri-parlamentare-2024/cum-au-fost-pacaliti-votantii-lui-calin-georgescu-sa-voteze-cu-sens-partid-progresist-si-prolgbt-spunetimi-ca-e-o-gluma-imi-vine-sa-plang-601926.html
  21. ^ https://www.fanatik.ro/cum-au-ajuns-simpatizantii-lui-calin-georgescu-sa-voteze-un-partid-pro-lgbt-imi-vine-sa-plang-am-facut-si-eu-aceeasi-prostie-20917173