20 Years Later: Any Progress?

by Radu Triculescu

It’s that time again, when a five year presidential cycle is nearing it’s end and a president needs to be elected. As always, the usual dirty politics and ruthless campaigning was not absent, but given the political environment that Romania has been facing, these elections promise to be of historic importance.
In the past year, Romanians have had a tough time. The economic downfall hit hard on every front of the economy, the Romanian national soccer team, a source of pride for Romanians, missed the World Cup once more, internal political scandals ravaged the country, and Romanians had to go to the polls for a referendum that has never before seen. So I would find it surprising if many of my compatriots would not sit at their desks, watching the news, or reading the news paper, and wonder: twenty years after the Romanian revolution; twenty years after many gave their lives for a communist free Romania, have we made any progress?

Morale and enthusiasm are at an all time low among the people. Just in May the referendum for impeachment of the current president, Traian Basescu, proved to us just how enthusiastic Romanians are about their politicians: only 44% of registered voters showed up to vote, and just this past November 22nd during the first round of presidential elections, voter turnout was just under 50%.
The second round of elections is scheduled to take place Sunday, December 6th, between incumbent president Traian Basescu and opposition leader Mircea Geoana. Even though these two candidates received the most votes out of the 12 candidates, that is not due to the fact that they are the best people for the job. The mentality of the elector is not to vote for the best politician, simply because it has been long (if ever) since Romania has seen a good honest politician take charge. To Romanians the choice of voting is a choice of the lesser of two evils.
The people of Romania must understand that the government was made to work for them. Voting has more power than one might think, and if the citizens organize together to demand change, the government will have no choice but to submit. No you cannot change everything over night, but slowly and surely, one can get rid of the incompetent politicians, and put in power those who will live up to their job description.