Votaţi
Va rog.
Today’s vote is of fundamental importance to the future of Romania. It is critical that you make your voice heard. Ignore the rain, overcome any lazyiness of apathy, make the time to, and get off your cur.
It is not enough to merely win or lose. Not today. A large percentage of Romanians must show they care enough to take action. And any mandate must be convincingly large. You cannot waver or flinch, but must make your statement.
Participate in this historic moment. For, that’s what it is.
May 19th, 2007 at 11:48 am
Roger, wilco.
May 19th, 2007 at 12:46 pm
Yawn.
May 19th, 2007 at 1:12 pm
I won’t. I don’t care about any Romanian politician anymore. I voted for Băsescu back in 2004. I thought he would be different, but he disappointed me in every possible way.
His most important mission was to make the PM look bad. His arguments with Tăriceanu was so embarassing for both of them…
Then there were the corruption, like his friends with no experience in constructions, getting some highway construction contracts or the way he obtained some cheaper electricity for some aluminium company.
There were other things, like getting filmed by reporters drinking and then driving and then claiming he drank just a bit early in the evening. (Romanian law allows no alcohol in the bloodstream, so even if you drink just a bit, it’s still illegal)
Also, Băsescu is Becali’s greatest friend! How can one be a friend with such a person? He’s a quasi-fascist bigot, for god’s sake! They do have some things in common, like calling journalists “assholes”. (Băsescu used the word găozar, Becali too many insults to write them here) Look at a photo of them: http://www.presa-zilei.ro/poze/1954.jpg
Is Băsescu really that much better than the others? In Romanian, we have a saying, having to choose between plague and cholera. I’d rather stay at home. :-)
May 19th, 2007 at 5:54 pm
For what’s worth, I voted. Me and my whole family. But it doesn’t look like attendance is going to be great, unfortunately. That’s what I meant when I quoted somebody saying that in democracy people get exactly the government they deserve. If they’re too stupid to vote, they can complain, can they?
May 19th, 2007 at 8:13 pm
Amen, brother!!!! People need to stand up for what they believe in and want/need in their lives!
May 19th, 2007 at 9:26 pm
Went, voted, felt good about it.
May 19th, 2007 at 10:16 pm
And Basescu wins by a landslide, although final turnout will be low.
Anyway, the fact that they chose what is actually a work day for the more dynamic elements of Romanian society as the day for the vote shows that the anti Basescu coalition was trying to engineer low turnout all along. Even so, he still seems to have one million more votes than when he first got elected in december 2004.
Exit polls run between 75% and 78% against impeachment.
May 20th, 2007 at 1:11 am
I was very excited to see such a united voice among those Romanians who cared enough about their own futures to make an effort in voting today. It is too bad that a large portion of society felt so helpless to change their lives that they decided to make the choice of doing nothing to better themselves. Nonetheless, for those who love Romania, I am glad to see the statement was clear.
May 20th, 2007 at 11:23 am
I don’t feel helpless to change my life. That’s why I don’t expect anything from the politicians, I know that it’s 95% up to me to change my life, it’s not up to the politicians. We’re in the EU and we have plenty of oportunities, we don’t have to wait for our government to help us.
Also, claiming that people who didn’t vote don’t love Romania is too much like the point of view of the Republican rednecks who said the same thing about not voting for Bush… Associating the love of one’s country, patriotism, etc with one’s political choices is wrong, IMO.
May 20th, 2007 at 5:35 pm
That’s so liberal of you, Bogdan. Choosing not to choose is also a choice, right?
I bet your parents were just as politically inactive when they were your age. They must have thought that it was 95% up to them to change their lives, too.
After all, they had all the freedom in the world to choose what was best for them 20 years ago.
May 20th, 2007 at 6:08 pm
Musculin, being politically active 20 years ago meant either being an activist in the Communist Party or ending up somewhere deep in the Securitate’s dungeons. No, neither was the case for my parents.
My father, an engineer with “healthy origins” (his parents were workers), could have easily climbed the hierarchy of his company, but he refused to be an informer for the Securitate or even become a member of the Communist Party and I think that was the moral choice.
There were far fewer opportunities twenty yearso ago and back then, the political climate influenced a lot the people’s lives, but now it’s no longer the case, especially after we joined the European Union. We simply can’t go back to a dictatorship or anything like that. Now it’s only up to you.
May 21st, 2007 at 1:19 am
In some ways, I can (or, perhaps, have in the past) agree with part of this. I can certainly empathize with the sentiment, Bogdan.
However, if you’ll allow me, without intending it as a personal attack, I have to wonder how deeply the roots of your philosophy on this topic truely reach. Just where do you ground yourself in absolution from involvement? While a suitable answer could satisfy my curiousity (although I acknowledge there is no cause for you to bother responding), I must admit, without waiting for any subtle hints, it could be said that even Max Stirner would not completely ignore events around him.
And in the most base way, is it possible this was one of those 5%? I think it might have been. Time will tell.
May 21st, 2007 at 1:27 am
I don’t think it’s really up to you. If you’re only interested in playing in your little sandbox, then it’s up to you. But if what you’re aiming for is either good quality, honest public services and or getting into big bussiness, or both, you can’t get that without polytical developpement.
I, for one, am not experiencing any economical hardship, although my familly and I are not invlolved in any illegal, corrupt or polytically connected scheme. Yet, whenever I have to interact with the outside world I keep bumping into bad roads, insufficient infrastructure, corrupt officials, non functional services, etc. etc. I’m not satisfied by financial security alone. I want a civilized way of life, I want a good overall quality of life, and I want to feel served by my government. And that I cannot solve alone.
I am also aware, that no matter how much I can work for my familly’s smal bussiness, there is a point where you either compromise or you hit a concrete ceiling. If you want to do bussiness past a certain level you need connections and you need to compromise your integrity to obtain them. I’m not willing to do that. I want to live in a society where I can tap million dollar contracts through open, honest and un-rigged bidding, without getting involved polytically, donating to party campaigns and so on. I want to live in a country where all big contracts are not reserved for Voiculescu and the like. That’s why I don’t believe going it alone and ignoring polytics is an option.
Moreover, I’ve got historical proof that personal ability is not enough, and that proof is right in my backyard. My ancestors made a fortune in late 19th century Russia. They weren’t well off, but rather stinking rich (farms, forests, land, real estate, stocks, bonds, you name it). Yet, they lost it all in 24 hours in 1917 because of polytics. When the bolshevics swept to power they were lucky to stay alive (most fo them). What they could piece back together in Basarabia they lost in 1940. My folks weren’t of “healthy origins”, and I know what that means. My grandfather never made it past colonel although he held a four stars general’s job in the MOD during communism.
To sum it up, democracy gave us a chance to get back to bussiness, and work and the individual pursuit of achievement. However, unless we are careful, nothing guarantees our safety. We are the guardians of democracy, capitalism and independence. If we become complacent, get used to wrong doing and accept it as normal and accept russian meddling in polytics we risk a lot even if we are in the EU and NATO. We worked to get in, now we must work to stay in. And we must do our best to “beat the iron while it’s still hot” on the Moldovan question. I know they have more problems than we care to tackle, but overall, history never forgives those who waste their chances. And if you think on a historical timescale, the benefits in the long run would be enormous (both economically and strategically).
May 21st, 2007 at 9:38 am
The real problem with not voting is that it allows others to “interpret” your absetntion to fit their arguments. While many people probably didn’t vote for the reason Bogdan gave (and not having a wrthwhile choice in front of you is a pretty compelling reason not to vote), and many other different reasons, we now see people like Geoana claiming that the non-vote means that you support him.
May 21st, 2007 at 2:05 pm
Bogdan, I don’t think you understood my argument. I said I was pretty sure that your parents were just as politically inactive 20 years ago as you are today, but was it because they thought it was 95% up to them to change their lives, to choose what was best for them??? Or because they simply didn’t have the same freedom to choose that you enjoy today?
Moreover, why do you think you have today the freedom of choice while this was not the case 20 years ago? Because people like you and me chose to remain passive? Why do you think we’re in the EU and NATO today and not in a gray zone like Moldova or the Ukraine or Albania?
And finally, why do you think the democratic process in Romania is irreversible, so that you can afford not to bother with the electoral process? Judging by what we’ve witnessed in the past 3-4 months, I’d say the opposite is true.
May 22nd, 2007 at 12:20 pm
I for one did not understand the reason behind the electoral campaign.
I saw the referendum as a question I chose to answer and the question has been simple: was the parliament right in voting the president’s impeachment for not respecting the constitution?
I don’t think it’s right to judge the referendum as points won or lost by either party - and it has probably been a big mistake on both sides to interpret the referendum as a re-election.
Basescu has not been elected by 75% of the people that chose to vote but rather 75% of the voters thought that the impeachment has been uncalled for.
There’s a huge difference in between the two and in this regard I find the 45% attendence worrying.
May 28th, 2007 at 10:28 pm
Dude, you’re jokes. I’ve read your blog before and now I accidentally found it again. It’s hilarious to see our culture through your eyes.
Sorry I post here but I couldn’t find an email/yahoo/msn messenger id thing.
Cheers.