The alliance, under Basescu’s leadership, increases the threat of extremism

With the approaching elections in Romania, political life is becoming increasingly unpredictable and since recently the mood is more agitated.. Compared to previous years, the 2004 elections will have a more powerful electoral stake. The winner of the elections will have the mandate to negotiate Romania’s accession to the European Union. This would bring to the ruling party an immensely positive image. It will also acquire political strength, it being the first party to manage the EU funds to be received by Romania this year.

The last few years there has been, surprisingly, a good equilibrium on the political scene, (after, for more than three years, PSD – Social Democratic Party – the ruling party, undoubtedly run the political competition).

It is interesting to note that this political stability holds against the radicalization of the opposition speeches, which tends to marginalize the party because of its extremism – Romania Mare Party (PRM). The alliance between PNL (National Liberal Party) and PD (Democratic Party) had attempted throughout 2003 to capture the Romanians’ interest by propagating the idea of replacing PSD and eliminating corruption. After the local elections, this message started to be redundant, especially because a concrete, positive and constructive offer was missing. The lack of such a constructive offer caused the PNL-PD Alliance to lose favorable points gained at the local elections.

New formulas for impressing and gaining electorate are lately becoming increasingly noticeable and public opinion in Romania is contributing to a very interesting political game.

It is about capturing a special discourse area, which has been abandoned by the extremists of Corneliu Vadim Tudor when he took Israeli image counselors.

The extremist speech, always very powerful in Romania of the past 14-15 years, is likely to have a similar impressive impact in the autumn elections. The major threat is that, this time, it comes from credible and popular leaders, who have always been accepted by the public opinion and even by the international community.

Unfortunately, this conclusion does not come from rumors or speculations, but is supported by recent firm statements and political commitments of the Alliance’s leaders. The most active being the new leader of the Alliance, Traian Basescu (General Mayor of Bucharest).

Here are some of the elements of Traian Basescu’s election platform:

1. Basescu promises to “trap” the politicians.

This promise, broadcast live on television, was a condemnation of the people who, in his opinion, were responsible for the poverty and corruption in Romania. This message is not only metaphorical, but also implies an action in preparation: first to improve its image and subsequently political purification. For the western countries, a political power that is still stuck in the radicalism of the 90’ is hard to accept. Even four years ago, international public opinion condemned the extremist Vadim Tudor, who promised to “eliminate” the politicians in the government.

2. Fiscal amnesty only to certain businesses.

Traian Basescu announced recently on television (channel PRO TV) the adoption of a fiscal amnesty measure. This was intended to be introduced at the same time as the single income tax rate. Although this amnesty is supposed to erase the debts of all businesses (including the TV stations that are increasingly burdened by their debt to the state), Basescu stated there would be a selection of those absolved. This might mean that some owners, politically selected, will suffer from accumulating debts “with the help” of the current governing party. They will be sent directly to prison, in at most one month from winning the elections.

3. Prison sentences for the businessmen around the current leading team.

The threat of a prison sentence is already recognised by those who have had the courage to admit to their business practices with the governing party. Such pressures cause an excessive politicization of the economic climate, which seriously affects the relationship between companies and institutions. In this case, Basescu promised to the poor electorate a rapid action that is negatively influencing the act of justice, even to the point of illegality.

4. Re-introduction of the death sentence for major infringements.

Another promise made to the electorate is the perspective of reintroducing the death sentence for major infringements. This is happening only a few years after the normalization of several categories of infringements (for example, until a few years ago, certain press felonies were punished with several years in prison, as was also the case with homosexuality). Reintroduction of the death sentence seems to be used as an electoral instrument as long as Vlad Tepes is attributed the myth of being the man of justice still holds for the Romanian electorate.

5. Nationalization of the media.

Recently, also broadcast on a TV station (National TV), Traian Basescu (who became the sole central spokesman of the PNL-PD Alliance) statements on the relationships between the foreign media organizations and Romanian editorial staff. On this occasion, Basescu severely criticized foreign ownership of the Romanian media, explicitly suggesting that we need to renounce these foreign organizations (as it is about something else than market economy). Media nationalization may be attractive to a certain electorate and, if this measure is linked to the perspective of winning the elections, it would facilitate the total takeover of the press. Especially because, by selecting the companies whose debts will be erased, it may continue to be a significant factor of pressure for the media trusts.

6. Social and ethnic intolerance.

Traian Basescu also recently announced that he wanted to rid Bucharest of all poor people who could not afford to live in the capital. This statement was accompanied by several measures for increasing penalties for those who do not keep the front side of their properties clean as well as new taxes for heavy transport through the city. What Mr. Basescu avoided saying is that those most affected by his measure are two most deprived categories in Romania – the pensioners and the gypsies. In the context of the social reintegration of rroms (gypsies), these measures would undo all that has been done for the reduction of poverty and analphabetism of the rroms in Bucharest.

7. Political intolerance.

Another characteristic adopted by the PNL-PD Alliance is refusal of any dialogue and constant disrespect for public institutions. Both parties, on their leaders’ advice, have refused all dialogue with the Romanian Presidency during last year, this institution is rather an instrument of mediation between the political forces. This attitude ended with the explicit refusal addressed this summer to Ion Iliescu of an invitation to discuss the political situation in Romania, to be held at the Cotroceni Palace. It is said that these parties do not wish to collaborate with the governing party, although a constant dialogue for the EU integration processes was needed. At the same time, PNL and PD never convincingly denied the rumors related to a possible collaboration with PRM after elections.

8. Political extremism appreciated by Vadim Tudor.

The recent discourses of Traian Basescu generated a surprising reaction on the political scene, which has also been noted by foreign observers. The well-known extremist, Corneliu Vadim Tudor, praised the firm statements of the general mayor and said he was welcome in his party. This is a strong legitimacy offered by Vadim, who also declared to his electorate that he intends to support Basescu in the second tour of the local elections.

These developments clearly indicate that the extremism is not yet removed from Romania. The situation was rendered even more serious when Theodor Stolojan renounced his candidacy for president, leaving the Alliance exclusively in Basescu’s hands.

If Basescu wins the elections, there is an imminent threat that at least some of the measures above will be applied and thus sacrifice a great deal of the achievements made in the context of the EU integration. If Romania becomes a country with political instability and extremism, it is unlikely that Romania will be invited to join the EU along with Bulgaria.

The regional context emphasizes this threat even more, especially after it was
believed that the Meciar syndrome had disappeared. Recently, the Moslem, Serbian and Croatian nationalist parties in Bosnia have won the municipal elections on Saturday in 142 cities, according to the partial results made public after counting 90% of the votes, the Electoral Commission announced, quoted by AFP.

Once again, we have numerous reasons to be concerned about resurgent extremist threats in the Balkans.

Source: EURINTRO sprl-bvba
http://www.eurintro.be/