In modern Europe, we believe that feudal practices have been entirely eradicated and that modern democratic republican regimes are the sole source of state authority. By Republic, we refer to a system of government that is a public affair (‘res publica’) and by democracy we refer to a situation where the political choices of the population are embodied in executive, legislative and judicial institutions. A closer inspection of the countries currently plagued by economic and political crises in the ‘periphery’ of the European Union shows that the legacy of feudalism is far from defunct. In 21st century Romania, we use the words ‘democracy’ and ‘republic’, but the reality on the ground resembles nothing of the sort.
Theoretically, the will of the Romanian people in the legislative field is represented by a bicameral Parliament, with a total of 471 members in a country of just over 18 million people. However, most parliamentary voting is secret: the public do not have access to voting history for parliament members. This is as outrageous as it is ignored: essentially, there are no solid criteria on which voters can make their decisions and assess the candidates. In order to become elected you need funding for the campaign and in the context of Romania’s struggling middle class and widespread poverty, this gives access solely to the corrupt oligarchy, whose source of funding was pointed out in our previous article.
In Romania, parliamentary defections are common and often influence important legislation or decisions. The levels of corruption generated by this are incalculable: many members of parliament vote only according to their own private interests and not according to the interests of the people.
When decisions are being debated which do not suit a certain party, its members sometimes chooses to leave the assembly altogether, in order to boycott the vote. In addition, double-hand voting, absenteeism and even sleeping are so common in the parliament that they have moved into the realm of popular jokes. Recently, the parliamentary majority even attempted to disrupt the principle of the separation of powers and only under huge external pressure did it finally approve the legal and valid referendum, by which the suspended president must return to office.
The Romanian parliament disregards popular votes and referendums, it is elected on no solid criteria, it ignores the constitutional separation of powers and its members are immune from prosecution. In addition, after 20 years of ‘democracy’, Romania’s economy is in shambles and reforms have been timid and inconclusive. So, who does the Romanian parliament represent?
As we have shown in our last article, the Romanian state does business with itself on public expense. Many members of parliament are involved in the state-run businesses or have connections with the private companies that obtain over-priced contracts paid with public funds. This involves deep connections with mafia and organized crime. Senator Cezar Magureanu and his connections to organized crime are just one example. We can thus begin to grasp the hierarchy of the exploitation system: the collars turn whiter as we move up. Mobsters, drug-dealers and ‘businessmen’ in companies that take contracts for the state are at the bottom, and as we move up we start to run into members of parliament and other officials. The democratic mechanisms are just a cheap play of theatre to mask an exploiting regime, of feudal nature, in which popular opinion is either manipulated or discarded.
Meanwhile, the executive system is locked in a constant political struggle between the president and the prime-minister, due to a constitution made specifically to ensure that a popular new leader does not disturb the order of things. The president does not actually have much power, as he can appoint but not dismiss the prime-minister, who is the head of government. Thus, pointless political struggles distract attention from Romania’s other problems, which are ominously accumulating: massive public debt, unemployment, the exodus of talented youth and little foreign investment.
In 2009, a referendum was held, which proposed a reduction to the number of members to no more than 300, and a unicameral parliament. It was passed with a majority ‘yes’ vote, but after three years nothing has happened, as respecting popular will has nothing to do with with the private interests of the politicians. The same politicians have accumulated large fortunes, have built entire neighbourhoods of villas and spent vacations in the most luxurious destinations, while more than half of the population struggles from one day to the next. Thus, it is also hard to argue that Romania is a republic, as governing is strictly a private affair, only done on public expense.
The pyramid that begins with organized crime members and local ‘barons’ and ends with corrupt officials, effectively excludes popular interests from policy-making and has little to do with democracy or republic. It resembles a feudal hierarchy: from the counts to the smaller barons. The parliament of Romania does not represent the popular will, as it is supposed to, but it is the top layer of an exploiting feudal hierarchy which has for 20 years looted public finances under the disguise of democratic legitimacy.
(To be continued)
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[…] have shown a sketch of this pyramid in our previous article. Yet, the modern Romanian nobility, like others before it, must have immunity from prosecution or […]