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If not now, when?
(Photo source: DANIEL MIHAILESCU/AFP/Getty Images) Romania's president incumbent, Traian Basescu, spoke on national television last night for the first time since protests began almost two weeks ago, in defense of his government's tough austerity measures. See speech HERE in Romanian.
The measures suffered in Romania have been immensely strict and, just for the record, Forbes Magazine reported earlier this week that the national GDP of both Hungary and Romania combined is about equal to that of Greece. "Brutal and unthinkable in a West European country" was the verdict on the two years of austerity from Andreas Treichl, the president of Austria's Erste Group, the largest foreign investor in the Romanian banking sector.
The BBC gives Romanian austerity as follows:
- 2011 budget deficit reported as 4.35% of GDP
- public sector pay cut by 25%
- VAT raised from 19% to 24% (only surpassed by Iceland, Hungary and Norway)
As an outsider looking in, we have been very much aware of the harsh conditions inflicted on the Greeks due to their own government's wheelings and dealings for decades, but very little, if anything, was reported by the international press up until the protests on those suffered by the Romanian people. I have been told that they simply accepted what needed to be done - and did it. They didn't have any choice in the matter. The Romanian people were obliged to get on with it and 'faire avec'. But then, it all became too much. The mamaliga exploded. This is, of course, a huge simplification.
In his 35-minute address to the nation, Mr Basescu acknowledged "some citizens have lost faith" but said the measures had pulled the country out of a recession, the Associated Press reported.
"I know what needs to be done. We are where we should be. Romania has come out of a recession," he said.
He has a point. Today, there are other EU member states in a much worse situation economically than Romania finds itself today, but Romania was one of the first EU members to need a bailout in the current crisis – securing 20 billion euros ($28bn, £16.7bn) in May 2009, a year when its economy contracted 6.6%.
However, that 'some citizens have lost faith' is something of an understatement. If the press and the social networks are to be believed, a very large majority of the country has lost faith - and that can be seen right now with protests still continuing in Piata Universitatii despite a snowstorm that hit Bucharest this evening with winds of up to 70km an hour (so I'm told). It can be seen in the thousands who have taken to the streets across the entire country over the last 13 days. And it can also be seen in the Romanian diaspora, protesting in solidarity all over the world. If that is not proof of extremely determined, indignant (if not angry) people, then I don't know what is.
In the nationally televised speech delivered live from the presidential palace on the occasion of Cristian Diaconescu's swearing-in as the new Foreign Minister following Bachonschi's 'departure' a few days ago, Basescu said his government would continue to create more jobs and fight against corruption and tax evasion. If Romania is really going to fight corruption, surely those in power now will have to step down and certain members of the opposition (the majority, in fact) would be unable to take power. You know the saying - 'the fish rots from the head...' Of course, corruption is so deep-seated one is helpless in knowing where to begin, but those in power today are as guilty of it as anyone. As are some in the opposition. There is the quandry. They are both as bad as each other. Today, the US Ambassador to Romania, Mark H. Gitenstein, criticised the country's high-level corruption - not particularly helpful, since it's nothing particularly new...
Those calling for Traian Basescu's resignation continue to state that ANYONE would be better than him. Those hoping he stays say that this is truly not the case. And so far, there is nobody else.
Yesterday, about 2,000 teachers, nurses, retired army officers and trade unionist rallied outside the government's headquarters, according to Reuters:
"I want to regain my dignity, I want this dictatorship formed by president and prime minister to fall," said Otilia Dobrica, a kindergarten teacher and part-time secretary who earns around $420 a month.
"We can't take any more," nurse Adriana Vintila explained. "Four million Romanians have left to work abroad because they can no longer survive in their home country. I don't want to leave; it's the government that should go."
About 5,000 people rallied in Iasi, calling for early elections, whilst in Bucharest's Piata Victoriei, protesters shouted "Freedom, Early Elections!" during yesterday's anti-government rally.
“When I was the captain of a ship I never failed to bring my ship to port and I won’t fail to bring Romania to safe harbour,” Traian Basescu said during his address last night, according to the Romania Business Insider. “The belief that the president no longer represents the people is false. The president’s obligation is to represent them continuously, as the president has been elected through direct vote.” In this case, he would have nothing to fear from a referendum - or at least, bringing the election closer. So far, however, he isn't prepared to give the go-ahead for either.
Boc has been seen to make some concessions, though. On Monday, he fired Teodor Baconschi, the Foreign Minister, after he called protesters "inept and violent slum dwellers," and compared them to the miners who took to the streets of Bucharest in the 1990s. Clearly, the government believed this would mollify the protesters, but they remain wholely unconvinced.
Romania has been transformed since the overthrow of the Communist dictatorship in 1989 and the sometimes violent instability that followed. The nouveau-riche jet-set of young Romanians fill trendy nightclubs and plush restaurants that have sprouted up in Bucharest, and shiny new SUVs cruise the capital’s boulevards. There are many who do not wish to lose what Romania has today - better, richer in comparison to the way things were. They say that Traian Basescu is not a dictator and that Romania is no longer a dictatorship - they lived in and survived one. They know. Today, they have an opposition in parliament and they can protest in the streets. That is proof that no dictatorship exists today.
And yet, those in favour of the opposition, or at least, those calling for the resignation of Traian Basescu, Emil Boc and the fall of the present government say the benefits of progress have been uneven: life is harsh in rural areas and in the capital. Seventy hospitals nationwide have been closed; education has taken a nose-dive; if one wants a decently-paid job then one must go abroad; pensions are insultingly low; salaries have been cut. Among the EU nations, only neighbouring Bulgaria is poorer. Laws are passed without going through parliament to suit those in power, eg. Rosia Montana. That is NOT democracy.
Traian Basescu's speech, said Crin Antonescu, leader of PNL, was a sign that he was out of touch with reality and that he should resign, whilst Victor Ponta, the leader of PSD, told Agerpres that the speech said nothing at all and had no link whatsoever to do with what was happening in Romania.
Indeed, Romania finds itself today at a deeply messy and complex impasse. To choose between rotten apples and rotten pears is impossible and, until someone better comes along, until a new party surfaces (there are a few but none of them viable, I think) that is not filled with officers and informants of the securitate and yesterday's nomenclatura, I remain fearful for the future of the country of my heart. And yet, one is forced to be hopeful that true democracy will eventually be found. A title of a novel by Primo Levi comes to mind: If not now, when?
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