8/2/2019 Romania, A Political Dead Zone

1/2

Romania, a Political Dead Zone

Obviously its very interesting to watch world events, particularly at the moment, and events in

Egypt and Russia deserve particular attention in the context of Romanias political evolutionsince the revolution of 1989.

Egypt has just held the first round of Parliamentary elections following the popular removal of

their old dictator, Hosnei Mubarak. Note that he was overthrown but the remainder of his

regime, the military and the secret police, were not. They effectively stayed in power to

manage the transition. The election results show unexpectedly large amounts of support for

Muslim parties, the Muslim Brotherhood and the more conservative Al Nour have done best

and that will not please the elite who hoped to continue ruling. Many interesting stages in the

Egyptian revolution have still to come.

In Russia there have also been Parliamentary elections and results have shown the Russian

public tiring of Vladimir Putins apparently endless regime. Note that Putins party, United

Russia, was created by him (or by his political advisor Vladislav Surkov) simply to provide fake

democratic credibility in the Duma. The party simply supports Putin, end of story, and it did not

manage to attract even 50% of the vote this time; even with the usual massive voting

irregularities and suppressing of opponents by the government.

You may remember that the fall of Communism in Russia meant only the disappearance of the

ism. The senior figures in the regime, particularly the secret police and other security

apparatchiks morphed into what we call the Siloviki and continued to run the country from

behind the walls of the Kremlin. They took control of the nations assets and subcontracted the

management of parts of the economy to individuals known as Oligarchs. As long as the

Oligarchs remain politically do not challenge the new political order they can continue to amass

great personal fortunes, fortunes almost as great as that of Putin and his ex-KGB friends and

colleagues.

People sometimes ask what happened to the dreaded secret police in Romania after the

revolution in 1989. The answer is pretty much a same thing that happened in both Russia and

Egypt, they took over the country but with far less brutality that the KGB (a brutality thatcontinues to suppress all opposition and comment) and with more commitment to the project

than has been shown by the Egyptian military, so far.

It works like this. A selection of Romanian Oligarchs, through various deals, are allowed to

manage parts of the economy and make lots of money. They are also charged with ensuring

that a beneficial stability is maintained within the political life of the country. That is why

8/2/2019 Romania, A Political Dead Zone

2/2

Romanian political parties are so lifeless and never offer anything approaching a programme of

action to the people at an election. Politics is replaced by theatre, noisy but utterly ineffective.

Political stability allows the nations elite, some seen, some unseen, to go about their business

unchallenged and without any need to account for their actions whatsoever. Anyone who

threatens this arrangement is quickly dealt with by scandal and isolation. As an example we

may look at the recent case of Mircea Geoana whose political suicide was swiftly managed as

soon as he stepped out of line during his visit to the United States.

Romanias current power structure is partly maintained with the support of the United States.

Those anti-ballistic missiles cant arrive quickly enough. Romanias role in the illegal rendering

and detention of US prisoners is well-known and subtly denied. Romanias job as a hub of

intelligence-gathering is clearly developed; have you seen a capital of Bucharests size possess

so many Embassies, including the new US Embassy compound at Banesa? In return the US

ensures Romanias place in NATO and the EU.

In brief, Romanias strategic importance and willingness to help its western allies ensures that

the post-revolutionary political settlement goes unchallenged, that the elite are under little

pressure to deal with corruption and establish ways of developing the economy, that political

stability is given a higher value than genuine political development and maturity. In fact some

people regard the revolution of 1989 as nothing more than a coup detat staged by the secret

police with the help of foreign sponsors and the current power structure of the country,

combined with the inactivity of the sponsored political parties, lends supporting evidence to

that theory.

Political stability is indeed important to the development and growth of a country. However,

political sterility is certainly damaging in the long term. Sterility, a political dead zone, is what

we have now.

One final point. Romania is not unique in hosting the phenomena of managed political sterility

and we have mentioned two countries where the ruling elites have attempted to manage such

a thing. However, no political stasis remains in place for long because people get tired of it and

begin to demand change. No nation is endlessly tolerant of being blocked.