What Have Parliamentary Elections in Romania Shown?

Nicolai TCACI The December elections to the Senate and Chamber of Deputies demonstrated that Romanian society is no less divided than the Moldovan one. Political instability has long become commonplace for citizens of the Republic of Moldova - successive coalitions and governments, deputies migrating from one party to another, rewriting of the Basic Law through the Constitutional Court, president disconnecting and much more. After the presidential elections, political processes have become aggravated again - there is again no stable coalition in the legislative body of Moldova, calls for early parliamentary elections are enviably regularly heard. When talking about European values, democratic standards and the level of socio-economic development of the EU countries, Moldovan politicians often refer to the neighboring Romania’s successes. This country, close in spirit and culture - a member of the European Union and the North Atlantic Alliance - is a reference point for many Moldovan citizens. But has Romania gone so far from our republic? On December 6, in this country were held elections to the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. The results have once again shown that the society is not less divided than the Moldova one. The voting results are as follows: Social Democratic Party (PSD) - 29%; National Liberal Party (PNL) - 25%; Alliance of the Union for the Salvation of Romania and the Party of Freedom, Unity and Solidarity (USR PLUS) - 15%; Alliance for the Unification of Romanians (AUR) - 9%; Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR) - 6%; Other parties - 15%. However, what do these numbers actually mean and how will they affect the near future of Romanian citizens? Over the past few years, the Romanian political space has become an arena for confrontation between two key parties - the National Liberal Party (PNL) and the Social Democratic Party (PSD). PNL is now conventionally considered the party of power, supported by incumbent President Klaus Iohannis and former Prime Minister Ludovic Orban. But more recently, the political alignment in the country used to be absolutely different. It was the Social Democratic Party to enjoy great influence in the 2016 parliamentary elections in Romania. It received 45% of the votes in the Senate and Chamber of Deputies. For several years, it could practically single-handedly form the government and rule the country. It is believed that under the rule of the Social Democrats in Romania, constant economic growth continued, wages and pensions were raised. However, opponents of PSD accuse their opponents of curtailing democratic freedoms, corruption and attempts to mitigate legislative responsibility for crimes on this basis. Indeed, a series of corruption scandals, machinations with the procedure for passing laws and numerous conflicts within the party itself led to regular government resignations through the nomination of votes of no confidence by parliament members. So, only in 2018 in Romania the government was changed three times. The country has repeatedly raised the issue of holding early parliamentary elections but this was avoided. In May 2019, the leader of the Social Democratic Party, Liviu Dragnea, was sentenced to three and a half years for abuse of power. He was accused of receiving a salary from the state budget for seven years. In addition, Dragnea was admitted guilty of: falsifying the results of the 2012 referendum to remove President Traian Besescu from power; money laundering in Brazil; misuse of 20 million euros from EU funds, and abuse of office. As a result, in October 2019, a vote of no confidence was passed in the Social Democratic government led by Prime Minister Viorica Dancila. In the presidential elections in November of the same year, the candidate from the National Liberal Party, Klaus Iohannis, yet in the first round gained almost 38% against 22% of the former head of government, Viorica Dancila. In the second round, Klaus Iohannis won a crushing victory with 66% of the vote, which clearly showed that PSD had lost popular confidence. It was expected that after such events, PNL should have firmly established itself in power but the new government of national liberals, headed by Prime Minister Ludovic Orban, as little as 3 months later was dismissed as well in February 2020. This time, the reason for dissatisfaction was the "privatization of Romanian democracy", when the cabinet and the PNL parliamentary faction unilaterally adopted amendments to numerous laws without consultation or discussion. The national liberals still managed to retain power by forming a new government headed by the same Orban in March 2020. It is not surprise however that against the background of all these scandals and political crises in the local elections in September and the parliamentary elections in December 2020, citizens were unable to give preference to any political force. The country was effectively divided between the National Liberal Party, the Social Democratic Party and a lot of third-party formations. Just as in Moldova, the opposing political forces who want to make it all about themselves and rule the country their own way are in power in Romania. However, the lack of strong electoral support does not allow them do this, forcing them to make concessions and compromises with their opponents. Bound by mutual commitments, key players in the political arena fail to fully realize the interests of their constituents and ultimately lose their support. This vicious circle, along with other factors, leads to new political conflicts and regular shuffles in parliament and government. Today, the ruling National Liberal Party has every chance to retain power by forging a coalition with its long-time allies USR PLUS and UDMR. Romanian Prime Minister Ludovic Orban resigned under the pretext of his party defeat in the elections, but the real reason for this gesture is the opening of negotiations with other political forces on key positions in the state distribution. Thus, the first round of negotiations between these parties, that took place on December 12, has already been declared a failure. The parties were unable to agree on candidates for the posts of prime minister, speakers of two chambers of parliament and a number of other posts. However, the likelihood that these three parties will still manage to come to a compromise still remains high. At the same time, it is quite obvious that any structure of power in such conditions will be extremely unstable and only threatens the future with new government resignations and political migrations in parliament.