1. NLP leadership has given Nicolae Ciuca mandate to discuss within the Coalition synchronizing the elections for the EU Parliament with those for local authorities. Even though SDP leaves the impression that it is not pleased with such a decision.
About the crime against Romanian democracy that is the synchronizing of the two clearly different kinds of elections, I have written and talked before. Invoking the Irish and Belgian examples, Marcel Ciolacu makes an effort to persuade us that the trick is practiced by bigger houses as well – this is part of the mischief of the Romanian politics dabblers to point at the example given by masters. The fact that others do the same does not make it right for us. If the Master flogs his wife, it does not grant permission to the servant to do the same. I do not know how citizens from other countries receive the consolidated elections. From our standpoint, for the Romanian democracy, which is in its infancy, it could prove disastrous. On several occasions, I stood up against any attempt to change the timetable of this year’s elections. Elections serve as crucial moments when democracy is reaffirmed in the eyes of the people. Over a typical four-year cycle, citizens begin to recognize their importance and wield their most powerful weapon in confronting the politicians: the vote.
This gives them confidence in their own forces, but also in democracy. In current days Romania, any attempt to alter the election calendar appears as a gambit by which a party aims to win by changing the rules of the game. In this case, that of synchronizing the European parliamentary elections with the local ones, the party that tries this trick is NLP. Poorly supported, launched without securing a definite acceptance from the SDP, the initiative has deepened the image of a party in disarray, haunted by the specter of failure in the upcoming European elections, capable of anything (including a crime against democracy) to avoid defeat. Interestingly, the SDP, despite having an advantage over the NLP in the consolidated elections, adopts the role of the hesitant bride.
Why? The answer resides in the NLP’s leadership decision to move forward with the initiative.
It seems that Brussels not only does not oppose, but discreetly supports the maneuver.
Traditional parties that claim to have a monopoly on democracy are capable of anything not to lose the juicy bone of power in the upcoming European elections.
SDP, which knows that the consolidation will eventually be agreed upon, plays with talent.
Its aim will be fulfilled. With minor electoral damage – compared to those of the NLP, massive.
2. Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu officially asks Ukraine and Moldova why George Simion is banned from entering the two countries.
The astounding decision of the prime minister follows the delusional request of the rector of NSPAS Remus Pricopie, a former SDP minister, to outlaw AUR on the grounds that it is controlled by the Russian secret services.
The gesture of the person in charge of a university specialized in the training of public officials goes beyond the boundaries of academic seriousness, pushing the NSPAS in the territory of petty conspiracy theories. How does the theory of “AUR – Russian agent” differ from the theory of “NLP or SDP – party sold to the Americans”? A theory supported by someone who calls himself “PhD. Univ. Professor” violating even the laws of common sense. How can it be proved that a citizen is an agent of a foreign secret service? That a university professor may go nuts on his own initiative or to serve an interest can be more easily understood.
Marcel Ciolacu’s performance remains incomprehensible. Even as an average Joe, let away as PM, he must know that an allegation such as that of collaborating with a secret foreign service cannot be proved even if it were blatant. During the time of the Iliescu regime, spectacular campaigns were carried out with the thesis “Iliescu KGB”. The allegation has yet to be confirmed. And, in my opinion, it’s false. But even if it had been true, what secret service in the world reveals its secrets out of the blue?
Incomprehensible as it might look for an average Joe, Marcel Ciolacu’s performance is understandable for a politician. The SDP president has a huge interest in the rise of the AUR in opinion polls. Through everything he does against the AUR, he contributes to the rise of the AUR in opinion polls. This provides Marcel Ciolacu with the opportunity of positioning himself in Brussels as the last defender of democracy against fascism. Of fascism represented, in Ciolacu’s vision, by AUR.
How much can one truly obtain from Brussels with such a servile position?
3. By a decisive gesture, Gabriela Firea positioned herself as the SDP candidate for the City Hall, despite Marcel Ciolacu’s reservations.
It is not by chance that Gabriela Firea has presented herself as the candidate “for now”. In their interaction, Marcel Ciolacu practiced his well-known dodgeball. He did not openly oppose the candidacy. But most of all, he did not come up with anyone else, hoping that Gabriela Firea, feeling unwanted, would give up. She astutely seized the opportunity and asserted her candidacy. I am curious how Ciolacu will get out of this mess.
