Romanians rally again in anti-corruption, anti-government protests

[Ulquiorra]

Romanians protested against corruption in Bucharest and major provincial cities for a second day running on Saturday, demanding the Social Democrat government’s resignation.


The demonstrations were peaceful but on Friday, riot police fired tear gas and used water canon on a huge rally in central Bucharest. Hundreds of people including many Romanians who work in western Europe and police officers needed medical attention.


About 40,000 people gathered in front of government offices in the capital on Saturday evening - fewer than the 100,000 the previous night, shouting “Resignation!, Resignation!”, blowing vuvuzelas and waving Romanian and European Union flags.


Romania, a country of 20 million which hosts a U.S. ballistic missile defence station, remains among the poorest and most corrupt members of the EU.


Several more thousands protesting against graft and politicians’ attempts to decriminalise several corruption offences gathered in the Transylvanian cities of Cluj, Sibiu and Brasov, in Timisoara on the border with Serbia, and in the eastern city of Iasi.


Peaceful rallies have repeatedly been held since the Social Democrats took power in early 2017 and tried to decriminalise several graft offences.


Earlier this year, ruling party legislators pushed changes to the criminal code through parliament, drawing expressions of concern from the European Commission and the U.S. State Department. The changes are being challenged in the Constitutional Court.


Social Democrat chief and lower house speaker Liviu Dragnea was sentenced to three and a half years in prison by the Supreme Court in June for incitement to abuse of office, a ruling which is not final pending an appeal.


In an open letter, Dragnea, who is seen as de facto head of the government, said his party and government would not bow to public pressure to resign.


“I want to assure all Romanians that parliament will not allow anybody to dissolve democracy, suspend individual rights and freedoms, change the outcome of the elections and overthrow order in the Romanian state through violence,” he wrote.

[Qui Peccavit]

The Romanian populace can only be applauded for their continuous efforts, interest and engagement with which they take to the streets against the Goliath of a corrupt government again and again. This is even more surprising when taking into consideration how tight a ship because Nicolae Ceaușescu ran with his Securitate (secret police).

It is a pity that the citizens of African or South American countries, where corruption and organized crime are even more ubiquitous, never take a real interest in their states' affairs, due to the fact that corruption, nepotism, lying, cheating and stealing are a part of the mentality of overwhelmingly large parts of the population -- given the same position and opportunity, they would do exactly the same as those who have them. Taking a look at South Africa after the retirement of Nelson Mandela just hurts, and South America is even worse.

Let's wish the Romanian people the best and may their (hopefully) success inspire others to follow their lead, so that the next Arab Spring does not end in a disaster like the previous one, but in a Middle-East and North Africa that restore these old cultures to their ancient glory and prosperity.