Hai Basescu; Jos Mafia!
In spite of having been miserably ill for a week, I felt compelled to attend a promising call for a protest rally for supporters of suspended Romanian president Traian Basescu as he prepares to defend himself against a national referendum on impeachment next month.
High stakes politics, Romania style.
I often sense a deep hopelessness among the Romanian people who generally perceive the political process as something done by others in a unreachable place.
An entrenched apathy and disaffection dominates the mood of the citizenry who are quick to engage in political discussion, but only so they can dismiss any notion of the power to change.
It’s the bugaboo of communism, alive and well in Romania.
So, when there’s to be a political rally of any size and import, one simply must make an effort to crawl out of bed and wade through a sea of used tissues in order to partake in what could possibly turn into a molotov cocktail riot or at least seize the opportunity to share one’s viral infectious disease en masse.
Bine. Hai, sa mergem.
General paranoia set in early as the walk down Strada Progresului and Bulevardul George Coşbuc revealed a plethora of alert, on-duty security guards stationed along the perimeter of various industrial grounds. Always in pairs, the attentive uniforms seemed out of the ordinary for what should have been a lazy Sunday afternoon.
However, it wasn’t just the rent-a-cops in a show of force. The intersection of Coşbuc and Progresului had its’ very own police squad car parked awkwardly on a corner with its’ driver keeping tabs on pedestrians. Meanwhile an unusually high volume of Dacia Logans with red and blue lights were circulating throughout the general traffic.
Was there really such a need for the highly conspicuous display of enforcement capability?
It would seem that someone highly placed was taking all conservative options to preserve public order by maintaining public visibility of police who could also serve as scouts on the lookout for any potential swell of hundreds of thousands of angry Romanians mobbing their way to Piaţa Constituţiei.
There certainly was a vibrant hustle and bustle everywhere you looked but it was comprised mostly of people out doing their shopping or running other errands, causing many people to engage in labor on kyriake hemera.
Roma teenagers on the corner of Şoseaua Viilor made crude attempts to mimick the Westside gangstas of MTV stereotypes, as do many of the youth throughout Romania. A drunk old man smiled at me without asking for money as he shuffled by in the opposite direction.
At Piaţa Regina Maria, police presence intensified with clusters of black-clad poliţia comunitara roaming about and, in one instance, apparently interrogating someone for reasons unknown.
Strolling northbound on the main drag, Strada Libertaţii, which hosts both Casa Poporului and Piaţa Constituţiei, I was impressed with the seemingly endless streams of buses and shuttle vans cargoing politically-motivated passengers from across Romania to come support the preşedinte.
Directly in front of Casa Poporului and down the entire stretch of the property were innumberable stacks of what resembled unassembled barricade materials, strewn about the length of Libertaţii which itself was encircled in wire fencing as a hastily-slapdash defensive posturing against any possibility that protesters should want to approach the parliamentary building.
Closer inspection of the materials showed they were more likely to be components for constructing temporary stages, possibly for summertime concerts, and were probably dotting the entire street in some incompetent bureaucrat’s imagination of an obstruction against possible rioters (which, if true, would have indeed been a dumb move to give said rioters ready access to wood and metal).
While the fence was sufficiently weak enough to pose no impasse should protesters advance on Casa Poporului, the piles of staging material had their gaps filled with dozens of uniformed crowd control officers, including a few K9 units ready to bite any Romanian who dared to protest on the sidewalk in front of the parliament.
Motorcycle cops whizzed about on their fancy BMW bikes, weaving in and out of lanes a little too fast for my focusing efforts, to add yet more variety to the rich tapestry of security forces.
Across the street, in a designated zone for expressing human opinion, a firebrand orator boomed indignantly over the public address system and began agitating the first couple thousand protesters who had arrived early.
Meanwhile, a handful of people were gathered on the balcony of Casa Poporului, itself, to watch the spectacle unfold. A videographer shoved 50 grams of Star gratar-flavored potato chips into his rima oris before setting the remainder down on a ledge so he could belatedly adjust his lens with greasy fingers before resuming the munchfest.
To mitigate untimely accidents, some event organizer had the forethought to ensure the presence of 10 portable sanitation units. Off to the far right was an odd scene reminiscent of a drug deal with whispering voices in close proximity and hand-off exchanges in the portapotty darkness.
Just north of the piaţa, members of a Jandarmeria — which no longer relies on conscription to draft citizens, as of 2006 — crowd control unit assembled for an impromptu team meeting outside of their riot paddy wagon where, no doubt, the older squad leader took a few moments to refresh the memory of his young troopers as to their purpose and obligation in the event of any unauthorized antics.
The exciting opening speaker had been replaced by a string of milquetoast. Disappointed by unenthusiastic drivel, it was time to tune-out the harbingers of yawn and get myself swallowed up by the vast crowd in the pursuit of slogan signage.
After a slew of embarrassingly tepid yakkers bored the rally attendees half to death, one mildly interesting fellow managed to stir some modicum of partial incitement amongst a handful of protesters eager for any sign of life from the uninspiring speakers.
Note, like some other European nations, the political symbolism for distress is the national flag with a cannonball-sized hole in the middle representing the country empty of heart due to some treachery and invokes some familiarity of the American concept where our flag is held upside down (which would be moot with some European flags, like the Romanian tricolor standard).
One or two elitist jerks drove their special brand of superiority complex in and amongst the hoi polloi. One particular gentleman was, indeed, particularly better than others… at making a complete ass of himself.
Being as he was a bit taller than most people in the crowd, I saw his cemented hair encrusted with enough gel for a dozen insecure teenage boys needing fauxhawk spikes to impress the girls as it cut through the sea of bodies like a shark’s fin.
Pushing old men down and shoving young children aside, he pried apart the onlookers like a Sentinel searching for a secret GPS coordinate he was pre-destined to stand in.
“Move. Look out. Watch it. Coming through. Out of the way.”
Right near me, he knocked aside some college students and slithered to a standstill. He then proceeded to shout for the attention of one or two persons he knew nearby to make sure they would turn around and acknowledge that Mr. Marfa was there in the thick of things, hip as cool whip.
When he finished flicking his chin in greeting, he engaged in a series of remarks made to those around him so they might be endeared with him and bask in his semi-witty glow, feeling special to have been chosen as worthy of being stood next to by this self-styled slickster.
His lackey, on the other hand, never said a word to anyone but displayed a permanent disinterested scowl like a bouncer or body guard attached to his client. Of course, Mr. Marfa more than made up for the silence by rattling of extra chuckle-attempts at nearby ladies who quickly found him overbearing and uninvited.
Although he had thrust others aside in an impersonal and harsh manner, he is partially seen below as he took it upon himself to go out of his way to block some Roma guy who was politely winding through the human forest whereupon Mr. Marfa began to loudly berate the fellow and declare he would not be allowed to pass but must go back wherever he came from and leave the crowd.
That’s some serious chutzpah! If you see Mr. Marfa and recognize him, please point and laugh.
Of course, there were some actual real, live celebrities evoking visceral responses from the crowd. One of them was 33-year-old political slut Elena Udrea who reportedly bought her way into the political game and certainly is known to enjoy displaying her breasts for limelight since she’s not taken seriously on an intellectual level by many.
The great unwashed masses recognize (and generally love) any face that’s heavily promoted on television, so they gawked and groped after her as if to ferret out some magic dust from the presence of a star. Mr. Marfa also made his move and attempted some charming remarks to which she seemed to listen momentarily in passing.
Quarantined inside the fence, some unidentified man was besieged with demands for autographs which he happily obliged for quite an extended period of time. Equally thrilled by the love and attention from television cameras and throngs of strangers was his dashing arm candy, a dolled-up lady attractive enough to fit the wallet size of an otherwise average-looking man of repute.
A huge flaw in planning for this event was the over-reliance on musical artists to prop up the waning spirit of the crowd, which is an element noticeably absent from American protests since the 1960s.
Even worse than abundance of music was the absence of performance skill.
Just before the first band took the stage, underlings passed out promotional leaflets to the edges of the crowd and I managed to get my hands one. It was designed like a leu, the Romanian currency, as a copycat of earlier political funny money that preceded it in the nu dau şpaga tradition.
Looking like some bearded dwarf from Lord of the Rings, the frontman for rap group Morometzii began spitting lyrics without any background music which he was clearly expecting and he had to stop.
Once the technical difficulties were corrected, the hip hop got under way causing most of the under-25 crowd to bop a little to the beat.
“Romania, trezeşte-te!”
[Photo credit: Mrs. Pockets]
Later I learned the Morometzii once performed some of the same exact music during the D.A. Alliance 2004 election campaign, no doubt an overt attempt to appeal to politically-aware youth. Unfortunately, my estimation is the lead rapper is a talentless hack whose primary appeal is his bizarre appearance.
Auditory acceptance was markedly improved whenever he kept his trap shut. However, he was flanked by a couple of assistant-MCs and one of those — the lanky, bald one — seemed to have a decent voice for rapping.
Maybe if he was the lead singer instead… but then the poor guy did seem kinda nervous about performing live. A little anxious. Possibly high.
[Photo credit: Mrs. Pockets]
After those clowns were finished, there was another brand of Romanian pop music, but I’m not referring to all the lame stars who desperately copycat the very worst crop of bland and creatively-challenged American celebrities down to every last detail.
No, these guys were pretty good and, like, Romanian-ish.
Their flavor was “etno” mixed in with some heavy 404 bass machine. It seemed like everyone in the over-25 crowd very much enjoyed this style of music, including the oldest folks born well before communism in Romania. Plus, I liked it. The under-25 segment seemed a bit giggly and sheepish upon hearing it.
Lastly, there was the Romanian version of James Taylor who played every bit the part upon his wood stool, holding his acoustic guitar, and strumming away a type of folk music the Romanians refer to as “muzica uşoara.”
While I couldn’t determine the entertainer’s name, I did learn his presence was iconic due to his performances around time of the so-called revolution in 1989.
To throw a little more spice in the rumcake, the event organizers though it would be a big hit to shoot out pyrotechnics and confetti into the air. A little razzle-dazzle and pizzazz. Some sizzle before the steak.
The announcement was made that while suspended Preşedinte Traian Basescu was confirmed to appear soon, he had been supposedly delayed in traffic and we’d all need to wait just a bit longer.
Unprepared for this contingency and fresh out of flaccid speakers to dull the crowd, they tortured several thousand people with a reprise from Morometzii to fill the gap.
Just when you thought the entire affair could not possibly get worse, some bonehead made the fatal blunder of giving introductory honors to Monica Macovei.
While she is a talented reformer and skilled leader, she seems clearly not geared for public speaking. It was a wet blanket on the crowd and the worst possible choice made by amateur event organizers.
Fortunately, the magic man woke everyone up in a mere instant.
[Photo credit: Mrs. Pockets]
Traian Basescu took the stage with a commanding presence and the crowd went wild. He expounded at length to remind everyone of differences between what some people have falsely accused him of and what he has actually done.
“Am greşit?” Nuuuuu. “Nu-am greşit.”
He carefully laid out the case that his attempts at reforming Romania through anti-corruption policies has been a big success, which is reflected by Romania’s ascension into the EU at a time when many were skeptical they could pull it off.
However, now that acceptance is concluded, the oligarhi — that abstract network of filthy-rich power brokers who profiteered from PSD’s post-Ceaşescu “landgrab” of immense state assets — no longer needed to keep in the shadows and could once again return to the light with a vengeance.
Hoţi! Hoţi! Hoţi!
He spoke of the need to politically defend against the upcoming national referendum. Since the Tariceanu-lead Parliament voted to suspend Basescu from the Presidency, the voting public have the power for a final decision to approve or deny the Parliament’s impeachment of Basescu.
In late May, either 9 million voters must pro-actively choose to approve the impeachment or any lower number will by default result in Basescu being reinstated as President of Romania.
Meanwhile, the interim President is Nicu Vacaroiu, a technocrat from the Communist Socialist Party, comfortable transitioner with Frontul Salvarii Naţionale, and known former-member and bureaucrat of Ceaşescu’s Communist Party who was born in Білгород-Дністровський along the Dneister river.
Basescu urged the crowd to continue supporting his efforts to break corruption in Romania. He asked the people to not forget the actions and supposed motivations of Calin Popescu-Tariceanu.
Further, he vowed to keep on fighting against seedy underbelly of the Illiescu-created mafia — what Texans would refer to as a Bubba Network of power-addicted (ex-)communist overlords — after being restored to office.
Someone got a little trigger-happy and fired off the pyrotechnics a bit too early while the president was still trying to talk to the several thousand protesters gathered to hear him speak.
[Photo credit: Mrs. Pockets]
After the sparkles died down, he came back on the stage to wrap up delivery of his message to the rally. Then, he made a dramatic exit through a swarm of desperate well-wishers and excited fans while followed by every television camera in Romania.
The folksy muzica uşoara singer jumped back on the stage to play his anthem which lead to my favorite moment when, once again, a spontaneous hora broke loose among the happy people.
April 24th, 2007 at 9:52 am
I have to say I love your interest in the country’s affairs, but at the same time, I can’t help but feel you’re being just ever so slightly idealistic if you consider any of the current politicians, Basescu included, to be completely non-harmful to Romania. With that said, I believe the man is less harmful than any of the other choices, so yes, I will be voting against his impeachment, along with everybody else I know – it’s a logical choice. However don’t think he’s completely free of any guilt – he’s got his own skeletons in his closet.
Anyway, I wanted to comment on the symbolism of the flag-with-a-hole-in-it, as nobody else seems to have done so yet:
Way back in the days of communism (not so long ago, really – just before ‘89), the Romanian flag had a seal there in the middle, where the hole is now. The seal was Romania’s very own symbol of communism (or socialism, if you prefer; the official name of the country was “The Romanian Socialist Republic”). When December ‘89 came along, some people had the bright idea of cutting that seal out, symbolizing their desire to excise the communism from Romania itself.
That’s when the flag with a hole in it became the symbol of revolution, of change.
I was only five years old when these events were happening, yet I eventually understood this and it made perfect sense. I’m surprised nobody told you about it until now.
Anyway, hey, get well soon, man, and congratulations for having good taste in music, too.
April 24th, 2007 at 10:53 am
All these materials, including concrete fenced walls and stands will be used for some races (18 -20 may) Monte-Carlo style. The circuit/racetrack will follow a ring in Casa poporului – Izvor- 13 septembrie area. it’s easy to track the circuit – follow the streets without (so many) holes.
So, May 19 will be a noisy day in many ways…
April 24th, 2007 at 3:56 pm
Basescu is the absolute leader of one of the parties originating from FSN and his greatest enemies are his ex-buddies from FSN, the PSD. What I find funny is that right now, Basescu presents himself as a defender of values put forth by the Golaniad. He is not. At that time he was a high ranking official of FSN and he missed the opportunity to side with the protesters. His new image of righteous crusader against corruption and communism is just a recent disguise of a rather power hungry and inflexible political illusionist. Only this time the the shit hit the fan. He even managed to make the Hungarian (UDMR) and Romanian (PRM) nationalists work together toward his suspension. Now that’s something…
He is clearly at least as corrupt and dishonest as the abstract enemy from his discourses (the rhetoric is pretty shallow, he always speaks in general terms, never mentions any names, using very crude metaphors (”the oligarchs”, “the dragon”, “interest groups” – in post-revolution Romania, this gained a pejorative meaning -, etc). All the major corruption scandals of the last two and a half years have as protagonist some shady figure from his party, from his close circle or even Basescu himself (the intervention for ALRO group – cheap hydro energy for an aluminum factory, helping the owner of his favorite pub enter the road building business, dubious contracts awarded by the Bucharest municipality for the financial advancement of some of his consiglieres – of course, including Elena Udrea, etc). Yet he is out there, battling corruption and every other party in Romania, using the old hymn of the 1990 “golans” from University Square, answering a deep, irrational need of some Romanians for an authoritarian ruler. So yeah, “Hai Basescu, Jos Mafia!”…
April 24th, 2007 at 9:44 pm
Tiberiu – Well, don’t just blame Romanians – I’m sure a large percentage of the world’s population would love to have someone else do their thinking for them.
And with that, I take my leave – I’m leaning too far into troll-land and I do not wish to do so.
April 25th, 2007 at 10:48 am
That guy looks like Horia Brenciu, although I don’t really picture him doing what you said.
The romanian James Taylor is Cristian Paturca.
April 25th, 2007 at 10:49 am
I second Tiberiu. He may be liked by younger romanians (generally more attracted by extreme populism than their parents, see Gigi Becali), but the generation that witnessed Piata Univerisitatii (I was a freshman at the time, studying a few hundred yards away from it) includes key figures that don’t like Basescu, and his tentative to annex the spirit of that era. These include PNL and PNTCD, the two “historical” political parties opposed (right after 1990) to FSN, the dissident Doina Cornea, the two most influent journalists of that era, Petre Mihai Bacanu and Octavian Paler, former president Emil
Constantinescu. To such people and me he is little more than a cynical man that took advantage of the lack of analytical skills and critical thinking in the Romanian society (something you have to admit, is not
exactly what we’re best at :)).
Basescu has an obligation (to the spirit of Piata Universitatii) to come out clean on a shady episode in his past (he was a high ranking official, working in a position in Anvers, Belgium; in those times getting such a position involved cooperating with Securitate and there is at least one official document – not as well-known as it should be – that incriminates him as such).
Having lived for thirteen years in the States, I’d say that Basescu is the romanian equivalent of Dubya. He’s certainly good at pushing the populist chord, and some of his media supporters (Traian Ungureanu, for instance)
have a discourse that would fit Fox News quite well.
April 25th, 2007 at 2:03 pm
Please remind me:
- whom did the “golani” rally AGAINST in May-June 1990?
- whom did a few hundred/thousand people rally AGAINST 17 years later?
Ah, right, thank you!!!
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
April 25th, 2007 at 7:05 pm
Thank you Romerican for narrating so eloquently your first-hand experience. It also gave me sheer pleasure to see things from your perspective, the fresh eye of a foreigner trying to make sense of this immense sea of tacky color and solemn tradition.
As for Basescu like most ex-patriates I’m pro him. I too perceive him as being ‘raul cel mai mic’- the littlest bad. I also like him for his direct manner and determination to do what’s good for the country. On the other hand I think he’s probably one of those managers who is impossible to please, arrogant and obstinate. Ooof, we can’t win…. But on the other hand he’s no Bush! :)
[Requested grammatical correction. -R!]
April 25th, 2007 at 7:50 pm
Good stuff, Maynard. *thumbsup* Nice find on Udrea, too.
The juices are percolating in my head, but so are my sinuses. :-7 Visited my first Montenegrin doctor today as a result. Hey, you don’t suppose blogs are reciprocally contagious? :-D
So when that clears up enough to think a little, maybe I’ll blog something on the crisis, hopefully soon.
P.S. With a shirt like that, Mr. Marfa won’t be hard to find for me to sneeze on. I wonder if he’s the same guy who was ahead of me in line in 2000 at the McDonald’s at Constantin Brancoveanu metro station. This guy in a suit (again – at McDonald’s…) spent 2 minutes talking loudly and ostentatiously on his cell phone while the cashier and we customers glared at him to STFU and order — and then, even more ostentatiously, he clapped his cell phone down on the counter right next to the register, I suppose to impress the cute cashier girl with his bishnitzar manliness and wealth.
I don’t think there’s any shortage of nouveaux riche idiots like him. But they should feel extra good, now that Vacă, excuse me, Văcă is back in power to clone more like them (that is, faster than usual…). Never thought I’d see the day when Nicolae would actually become president instead of waterboy. Remake of horror flick at 11! :-)
April 25th, 2007 at 11:56 pm
[...] and the threat of safeguard clauses are real means of pressure for the Romanian politicians.” Romerican: “I often sense a deep hopelessness among the Romanian people who generally perceive the [...]
April 26th, 2007 at 9:32 am
@Musculin
The golani rallied anti-communists/FSN (at that moment including Basescu and his colleagues from PD) and pro democracy. Most of them were intellectuals (independents, monarchists, liberals, taranists, social-democrats – meaning from Sergiu Cunescu’s party-, even neo-legionaries). They were listening to Vali Sterian. Leader Marian Munteanu.
The recent rally was anti-parliamentarian and pro Traian “I will run this country like my damn boat” Basescu. Most of them were members of PD or PD sympathizers. They were listening to Morometzii. Leader Traian “I will resign in 5 minutes” Basescu.
I concur, deja vu all over again.
April 26th, 2007 at 3:28 pm
Narc – I didn’t intend to come off as entirely pollyanna about the affair. As an outsider, I will often miss some of the fine details but I do make some kind of effort to be somewhat informed in as much as I can be without a 20 year experience in sifting through the bullshit and lies.
But yeah, Basescu was son of communist army officer, member of the communist party, and was there to help FSN spinoff become the Socialist PD. No doubt there’s a little dust in that water.
On the other hand, Basesu did take part in reformist efforts through government office, even resigning at one point after criticizing the lack of pace for reform. Since being elected president, he appears to have done more than almost anyone else to shed some daylight on the communist files that should be openly disclosed in their entirety. He’s pushed for an increase in financial transparency of secret lives of Romania’s politicians. He managed to have communism officially rebuked and many of it’s crimes documented (if imperfectly). He’s expressed hope for future reunification with Moldova, where Romanians still live under communist government and sometimes no longer believe themselves to be Romanian. And let’s not forget he was the first to renounce parliamentary immunity!
Thanks for pointing out the communist flag crest. I knew Romania had borrowed the idea of the hole from the Hungarians decades before, but didn’t quite grasp the subtlety of the PCR symbol… as obvious as it seems now. So, in a nutshell, it’s really not like the upside down American flag (except insofar as generic political symbolism).
I believe I’m no longer ill. However, I’ve been blessed with allergies now…
mutz – That makes perfect sense because you can see some temporary bleachers in the first photo behind the buses. I guess the race cars will zip down that street as well. That should be a fun event and I hope I get the time to go down have a couple beers there. Will you attend? Maybe we’ll meet up?
Tiberiu – I might argue that Basescu has been pushing for reform a little longer than you characterize. On the other hand, I have reservations and lingering doubts due to his PCR membership and association with FSN.
(Let’s not forget that FSN, for a time, included true dissidents as they unfortunately believed the revolution had not been co-opted fully by Romania’s communist party. It may not be germane to talks of post-election FSN, but should deserves brief mention.)
I’ve made comments above which outline what I do see as a remarkably clear difference between Basescu’s PD and Iliescu’s PSD. Granted, the Roman/Illiescu/Brucan FSN split and part of it turned into Socialist PD and later has evolved toward an EPP member just like Partidul National Taranesc Crestin si Democrat.
While I would far rather see the cleaner legacy of PNTCD take charge of reform in this nation, I would not be so foolish as to equate Basescu with Geoana. And there’s no noise from the dead body of Actiunea Populara, *if* that were an acceptable ally.
There seems to be no party without a communist past, unless you consider UDMR or PNG to be a shelter in the storm. I don’t.
Not all Romanians have a deep irrational need for some authoritarian leader. Many support Basescu on strictly pragmatic grounds; he has followed in the footsteps of Constantinescu and made big strides toward a more open government.
What I don’t understand is motivation of Tariceanu! What is he doing? Siding with PSD, who has a long history of cracking up reformist alliances? On the surface, it all looks like personal ego. Especially with the Patriciu circus.
And if PNL has non-personal reasons to strongly oppose PD to the point of partnering with PSD and PRM, then I’d certainly be interested to learn more about what principles and factual matters are so important as to warrant blatant collaboration with the very worst factions of the communist party.
What’s the strategy; further legitimize PSD? Folly.
Andu – I see some similarities, but it wasn’t Horia Brenciu. Thanks for the tip; I’ll dig into Cristian Taylorescu Paturca and see if I happen to like anything he does.
G – Can PNTCD stage a viable come back? I bet they could if there was a uninominal vote. I’ve thought that perhaps uninominal voting could be a very good idea for the House of Deputies (although my thoughts aren’t finalized on that topic).
It seems like PNL is the only party with a minor measure of anti-communist heritage to claim. As long as they continue to push for lustration and full disclosure of all CNSAS, then I believe PNL as a whole remains trustworthy. Certainly their written party platform is more appealing than PD.
A certain number of key players in PNL have fled the party to create the new PDL and remain allied with PD. I don’t quite understand the history of each individual, but it does include some “big names” leaving Tariceanu. Then again, my initial reaction to PDL is negative because of the chatter regarding the strengthening of the Orthodox church (a tool of corrupt leaders everywhere).
Musculin – Was more than a few hundred. I heard some media purposefully under-reported the rally attendance because their owners were politicians (in opposition to Basescu). If a newspaper or TV station cannot even approximate factual integrity due to pressure from their communist owner, then I wouldn’t rely on them for much other than truthiness.
People seemed to be emotionally charged by a perceived ‘betrayal’ by Tariceanu, personally, for dumping Basescu (never a member of the central committee or anything AFAIK) in favor of far more powerful PSD (which is rife with the worst ilk).
Again, what’s the strategy here? Fear that PD is eating into PNL’s rightful support base? And that by pushing Basescu into a charisma campaign he’s likely to win that somehow PNL will… I dunno… gain ground for 2008 parliamentary elections? I don’t see the play here. I just don’t.
Lumi – I’d like to see Basescu to remain president at this time. I’d like to see PNL come back to an alliance (no big deal; these guys change alliances like the rest of us change underwear — daily!), and I’d like to PTNCD make a showing in the upcoming elections (although I dislike their explicitly Christian angle).
I certainly don’t want to see an unrepentant PSD or dangerous PNG take the presidency. It sure feels like a moment for defensive politics, since there’s no offensive move for anyone but Iliescu.
frank – I think there may be some contamination. Just as I recover from a lengthy and nasty cold, I find that I’m also into the spring allergies. Thanks a lot, bud!
Vaca. Heh. I hadn’t thought of that one. But doesn’t he look remarkably like an albino E.T.? I find the resemblance strikingly apparent. It’s sad to see Iliescu’s reliable Yes man back in the limelight, but he’s not the waterboy: that’s PD’s Scripcaru!
Tiberiu – Bear with me and keep educating me. I enjoy following new threads of information and considering ideas I’ve not encountered about the complexity of Romania’s post-Ceausescu communist aftermath.
Marian Munteanu comes across a “kindler and gentler” version of Gigi Becali. While he appears to be industrious and have respectable integrity, I cannot agree with much of what he espouses after some shallow reading.
I suppose each of us has our takeaways from rallies like that. Many saw it as pro-Reform. Some saw it as anti-parliamentarian. Some as pro-Basescu, personally. Some saw it as anti-”I will resign as PM, oops there’s some water” Tariceanu, personally. A few as pro-PD. As the lone nut, I wanted to see it as anti-PSD breaking apart yet another reformist alliance.
April 26th, 2007 at 3:54 pm
Thanks, Tiberiu et co.
Would you be so kind to remind us:
- who were members of the Parliament after May 20th, 1990 and who are now? In case you forgot, here you can find a list of all Romanian MPs from 1990 until today:
http://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senatori_români
- who was President of Romania after May 20th, 1990 and who is now (since April 20, 2007)?
- what party had the largest representation in the Parliament after May 20th, 1990 and what party has it now?
- who was the Minister of Transport in May-June 1990? – no, wrong answer: it wasn’t Basescu.
- ultimately, who was governing Romania in May-June 1990 and who is governing it today? Aren’t the people in Piata Universitatii rallying against the very same people?
- who says the President has to resign if suspended by the Parliament, in 5 minutes or 5 days or at all? The Constitution does not mention anything about it. The Constitution only mentions that after the President is suspended by the Parliament, a popular referendum must be convened within 30 days to approve or reject Parliament’s decision. It also says that if less than 50% of the registered voters participate in the referendum, it is declared invalid, the Parliament’s decision is rejected and the suspended President is reinstated in its position.
- why do the same people who crushed the May-June 1990 protests want to take advantage of the 30-day window of opportunity and change the rules of the political game?
- and, finally, why aren’t you ashamed that the politicians you’ve always supported are today’s staunchest allies of yesterday’s enemies?
April 26th, 2007 at 4:31 pm
Now that I’ve got involved into a dialogue between deaf people, I still have a few unanswered questions:
- does the accused have the right to defend himself before the electoral verdict? If yes, where?
Recently, the accused was denied access to the Parliament-controlled Romanian public television and radio stations, while the private TV/radio stations and most of the newspapers are owned by media sharks under judicial investigation (well, at least until the Parliament succeeds in its plan to change the Attorney General, too) such as Dan Voiculescu, Dinu Patriciu and Sorin Ovidiu Vantu.
- does the electorate have any guarantee that its choice at the referendum will be respected by the government?
Abstention is also a form of expressing one’s choice, as acknowledged by the Romanian Constitution but not by the leaders of the anti-presidential coalition who declared they would try to change that within the next 3 weeks.
- does the Constitutional Court actually have a say in all this political havoc?
No.
April 26th, 2007 at 10:52 pm
@Musculin
1. I’m sorry but I don’t understand what are you trying to ask. But let me explain my view about the past Parliament and the current one. Until now, Romanian Parliament was a voting machine. Someone held the majority and through absurdly strict party discipline, made sure his laws passed without any need for reasonable debate inside the specialized commissions or Parliament chambers’ floors (I don’t take into account the bombastic rhetoric as debate – and I am fully aware that the practice of talking loud about “stuff” is still present). Right now, for the first time after the Revolution, no party or coalition is in position to impose it’s point of view on the legislative process, yet few people even realize this. So engraved into public perception is the image of a Parliament voting automatically any piece of text emanated from the top dog, that no one is seeing the obvious: people are debating in the Romanian Parliament.
2. Well, I really don’t like Vacaroiu and I know he is a little asshole accessory of Iliescu. But I don’t put the blame solely on PNL for this unfortunate event. Basescu is also to blame, it was clear who was to fill his place. I also suspect Basescu thanked the Lord in his recent monastic tour because he didn’t succeed to replace the drunkard with Stolojan. Because right now, Vacaroiu at Cotroceni is his best “you have the right to be offended” card.
3. I’m sure you’ll agree that after the Revolution, one single party constantly had a better score than any other competitor and that was Iliescu’s little political ark, gently guided by ubermanipulator Hrebenciuc on the tumultuous waters of transition. Ok, the thing is not that little, is the god damn Titanic (still, way out of league for Traian “ram speed” Basescu).
4. I didn’t say Basescu was a Minister of Transport. I said – and I quote myself – “at that time he was a high ranking official of FSN”. Which he was. I can’t find what position he filled, but you didn’t get to be Minister in FSN just because you looked funny.
5. Then FSN (with Basescu around). Now PNL and UDMR with the help of PSD. Is not a natural relation, but one nurtured by the actions of one man. At the same time, this strange combination is the first thing resembling parliamentary democracy we had in all this strange years. If we get the uninominal voting thinggy I’m going to wet myself just to celebrate. So no, I don’t think the people are rallying against the same people. PSD is not FSN, Iliescu was sidelined until Basescu offered him anoter “raison d’être”. At his age, you need a reason to not die. And his reason right now is that Basescu is stealing his rhetoric (Iliescu had “landowners” coming to steal everything, Basescu has oligarchs doing the same thing, both concur that capitalism is a savage bitch in a full latex suit… but I digress, interest groups have “interests”, both are about Justice and anti-Corruption and all sort of things I just need to write using capital letters). I think Basescu really believes in what he yells, but so does a lot of the 322 guys that voted him out, most of them with a cleaner record than him (including Iliescu who had a hunger for power, but was quite immune to the wonders of illicit real estate appropriation).
6. I didn’t say he is bound by Constitution to keep his word, but I reserve the right make fun of him when he says something and does the exact opposite. He’s a moral midget and not only for the “5 minutes” thing. For the second part of the question: The trouble is that the Constitution doesn’t specify what happens if the referendum is declared invalid. All the liberal and Hungarian leaders I heard discussing the subject said that if the referendum is declared invalid, Basescu gets to play President of Rrrrromania and that’s it. The trouble is that PRM and a part of PSD just don’t want to play by the rules when it comes to people stealing their moves. Cristian Diaconescu is in the same camp with the liberals and UDMR (at least right now). Some PSD members just avoid stating anything about the matter except it will be resolved according to law, which pretty much puts them in the same side with the liberals and Hungarias. Fact is that opposition from PRM and a part of PSD (I can’t estimate how big, but I suspect they are the “old” friends of Basescu, wonder couple Nastase & Iliescu, where the fat and sassy meets the old and woody) keeps the question of what happens if the referendum is declared invalid hanging, with a looming worst scenario of suspension “at nauseam” for the rubber pirate. What all of them made sure is that Constitutional Court can’t take upon itself to resolve the matter without being asked, fearing they are under Basescu’s control. Because PNL, UDMR and part of PSD are determined to crapify Basescu’s street creed through good governing, they compromised on not taking any action for the time being, as no one wants to see the Sith Demcrat Party (or the Iliescu inspired part of PSD as I like to call it) voting randomly. Finally, any reasonable man can see that when the time comes, all the people that matter will be were the European Union wants them to be and the fair play will shine like a mother fucker (sorry for the language ;)
7. They take advantage because Basescu and his posse put them in the position to be able to take advantage. Basescu engaged in creating a presidential party through the swallowing of PNL by PD, he and B-Unit didn’t miss the opportunity to shitface anyone from PNL for any potential 1 point climb in the polls (I’m sorry, some reasonable but unpopular decisions are inevitable when governing; bashing your allies for taking unpopular decisions is just low), he acted like the “de facto” prime minister repeatedly sidelining the prime minister in office (most humiliating case being in my view that of the Romanian workers in Iraq, imprisoned for months by the American Army for espionage for taking some pictures inside the base they weren’t allowed to leave; the PNL minister of foreign relations knew, the president knew, the secret services knew, and they all did nothing for the sake of that imaginary axis Washington-London-Bucharest so dear to Traian “if you want to fuck some Russians, we’re in” Basescu; only the damn head of executive power had no fucking idea and he had to read the press to know what’s happening; even more, just as the prime minister learns about the situation, the American Army decides it was not a case of espionage and just a misunderstanding, and I’m very sure what convinced them was a hasty phone from the Traian “Defender of Romanian Citizens Extraordinare” Basescu fearing Tariceanu’s reaction could, god forbid, bring him some points in the appreciation polls so dear to our beloved crosseyed pirate), etc.
8. Yes, he has the right to defend himself. No, he doesn’t have the right to side pose for the public owned cameras anytime he wants. Some rules must be observed, it is after all an electoral process, both his view and the view of his “oppressors” must get equal time on public television. No one forbade him to keep the rest of TVland under his spell (except the Antenas and some of the lesser micro stations, everyone else seems stuck in “Heil Basescu” mode). He has an extremely favorable press, anyway you look at it. Regarding the Attorney General: no, I don’t think he will get that lucky. Those in control of the Parliament are not stupid (at least some of them), even if they were full of ill intentions toward the Justice system, they will never give Basescu another thing to yell about. Plus, what’s the point of changing some people for 30 days. More easily they could send them on a payed holiday if, for some reason, they didn’t want them around.
9. If if a flood wipes Romania off the map until the referendum, we will see Basescu anchoring at Cotroceni and an “Ahoy, matey!” speech for the rest of them politicians, to drown all the doubts that anything changed.
10. Yes, they have. They will validate/invalidate the referendum, and then validate/invalidate the solution of the Parliament in case of an invalid referendum. My money is on an invalidation (if things don’t change, I don’t see a huge turnout), followed by a validation (again, even if the Parliament is ill intended, no one in Romania has the balls to fuck with European Union).
How can we end the havoc? Is obvious we need some constitutional reform, is inevitable. I tend to favor a bicameral parliamentary system, uninominal vote and less people to vote for (just like first league football, not enough talent to field 18 teams ;). Head of state: the King/Queen or an “emasculated” president chosen by the parliament or a slightly bigger “ad hoc” assembly. I say let’s get over our fascination for the French bureaucracy and start acting more German.
P.S. Sorry for the length of this reply.
April 27th, 2007 at 3:23 pm
Thank you, Tiberiu, for the effort you made to expound your opinions on this political crisis in such a clear and articulate way.
However, I don’t agree with your comments and neither do most of the foreign political analysts I came across. On my blog you can read, if you want, two articles on this topic that I shamelessly stolen from The Economist and Open Democracy websites.
As I said, I cannot agree with you and approve of the “Liberals” allying with the most despicable party hacks ever appeared from the shady backstage of the 1989 revolutionary chaos.
But hey, it’s STILL a free country.
April 27th, 2007 at 5:04 pm
Whenever your books comes out, let me know. I’ll buy it! :)
Hope all is well
April 27th, 2007 at 5:41 pm
The meaning of the hole in the flag has no relation with a broken heart.
In that place, there use to be the communist symbol of Romania (this was the flag back in the communist era).
At revolution, the people cut it from the flag and I guess it means Romania without communists or free Romania.
April 27th, 2007 at 10:05 pm
scuba – Danke schoen. Glad to see you visit! I’ve re-located to the big capital of Romania, which I’ve not liked previously, to see if I cannot find a way to enjoy the positive aspects of it. Writing progress is underway and you’ll see about it later on, if you keep tabs every few months. Hallo to Ronnie und Alex auch.
Cristina – Thanks for the clarification. I’m coming to learn about that as well as know it should have been more obvious in the first place. But that’s what I get for being straine. ;]