Politics: Romania

Politics

In recent times Europe has experienced great political changes as increasing uncertainty and economic stressors have caused the electorate to pursue changes with the national government. Perhaps this situation is nowhere more evident than in Romania, one of Europe’s poorest most corrupt countries.

On Thursday, July 12, Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta promised to address EU concerns regarding rule of law and will and vowed to abide by any Constitutional Court decision regarding the referendum on the impeachment of President Traian Basescu. After a meeting with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, Ponta was handed a list of commandments that require him to retract a decree abolishing the 50 percent turnout rule for referendums and to avoid using any further decree’s that by-pass Parliament and the Constitutional Court.

This all comes in context as the Romanian Prime Minister continues his campaign to oust President Basescu and his party out of power by using his party’s majority in Parliament. Yet, the political turbulence has led to economic uncertainty in the nation as Romania risks losing the 5 billion Euro loan from the IMF that underpins the economy. This is well expressed in the recent news about Romania’s currency, the Leu, has reached its lowest value compared to the US dollar since 1995.With the referendum approaching quickly in two weeks, the fate of Romania’s politics and economy hang in the balance.

Observing these events as a Romanian citizen living abroad, I see this issue as the cumulative effects of many years of corrupt politics and uncaring government officials. Although I do not believe Interim president Crin Antonescu or Prime Minister Victor Ponta are upright citizens, their coming to power reflects a good change from the several years where Basescu has controlled government. His behavior in office has set the tone for dishonest politicians and his governmental policies have bankrupted a country with strong economic potential when he took office. The continuous unhappiness with politicians and corruption among the electorate is unsustainable and will eventually be reflected in the elections and protests. The early riots this year in Romania as well as the current political uprising foreshadow the people’s malcontent with the political system, and will ultimately lead to change. Thus, the question at hand is, who will step up in Romania out of all this turmoil to lead the country and appease the electorate and, more importantly, how long will it take?

Hyperlinks:
http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/romania-politics.hqh/
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303919504577524253792972184.html
http://eastofcenter.tol.org/2012/07/to-victor-go-the-spoils/