Well, it's kind of cloudy in both senses in Bucharest these moments. Yesterday there were about 60% of the Romanians with the right to vote exercising it. The exit polls are favorable to the PSD & Nastase, and the intermediary results are not encouraging either. My only surprise was that the difference is high - at least 5% on all the levels (president/parliament). I was expecting somewhat even results and I guess that the balance was decided by the "undecided" - people who were too dissapointed with what is going on in Romania or non believers in that their vote would matter. Or non believers in the whole democratic process per se. It doesn't matter now anyways, the problem is more complex that that.
If you sit down and judge it objectively, the results shouldnot be a surprise. They would appear as a normal choice in a society driven by huge manipulation by all means - most frequently via media channels or blackmails of all sorts (I have a friend working for a TV station who was threaten to be fired in case of voting for the "wrong" person.) And signs are everywhere -- look at the tv, read the newspapers, look at ordinary people in the streets (and I don't mean downtown Bucharest), talk to them, learn about the system(s), who makes it, who runs it, what the drivers behind it are. Those signs show little evidence of efforts for creating a better living or a better environment and I guess that those signs only indicate an aggresive ego fight combined with self-driven interests. No preocuppation for the community whatsoever - not even signs of respect for the others. This ultimately means mediocrity and this is exactly how these elections results should be interpreted. Cynically enough, while I am writing this a friend of mine asked me if I know what is the worst joke he has ever heard - yesterday's elections.
However, besides that, it looks like the Romanian society still has a heavy burden making it almost impossible to judge and choose decently in a situation otherwise obvious in a civilised world. Even though the old people grinning last night on tv don't represent me or the path to a better living whatsoever I will still accept the results. The reason: despite my anger and disappointment I think I should have a clear mind - the true value of a character stands in being there in bad moments, and now we will have to get involved more than ever even though we just shoot ourselves in the foot. In spite of that actually.
The paycheck is huge unfortunately and wounds are deep. And while I believe that the result of the elections will constitute a brake to reaching rapidly a healthy and pragmatical way of thinking at the societal level I will still mind my own business and will not surrender in believing in us and in our potential. Nor will I quit getting involved as much as I can.
Btw, read also this - unfortunately only for people understanding Romanian.
Dragos, its not so bad man. For the presidential elections there's still the second round. And in parliament it is tough to see what combination can have a majority: both coalitions declared they will not ally PRM, and UDMR is the only other party making the cut. More generally, I think Romania will continue to move in the right direction, perhaps a bit slower. Joining the EU means the local government does not have that much freedom in terms of economic policies, if they are to stay on track. I don't see either party being able to do a lot of damage. I liked the PNL-PD idea of a (low) flat tax rate (which Nastase actually supported a while back - it was Iliescu that opposed it), and that is one of the major losses in the election perhaps. The fact that older people voted ovewhelmingly PSD... its just clear thinking on their part. Self interest tells them to vote for a party that will prioritize redistribution over long term performance. By contrast, growth matters a lot more for young people. I don't hink there's a defficiency in their thinking or mentality, it is self interest. The corruption talk... its unrealistic to think that having the PNL-PD alliance win would change things for the better in dramatic fashion. Think back to 1996: at a local level people simply switched parties and became members of PNTCD for 4 years; otherwise it was business as usual. Internal struggles and corruption plague ALL parties in Romania now. It is hard to see one party having a monopoly on knights in shining armor, who will keep their hand out of the cookie jar for the sake of... faith or honor or some other value that is mysteriously missing in the other parties. It would be nice, but its unrealistic I think. The incentives are there for everyone, and people are people. The entire system needs changing, and it is happening; its just somewhat slow without a magic pill.
PS: partials are a lot closer than exit polls. This is still interesting.
Agree with almost all. One thing I want to reveal: young people that voted Sunday. Yes, it's true older people voted (in majority) with PSD cross PUR Coalition. But we see that in 2004 almost 55% of 18-35 years people voted for Alliance (let's say liberal parties) comparing with 2000 when the percentage was much higher (near 85%). For me, that's a problem. And adding that in 2000 young people voted in majority (in Transilvania) with PRM all became a big problem.