The Charade of Romania’s Presidential Election

Social media is full of memes making fun of PSD’s candidate, Viorica Dancila. Indeed, she has committed a great many blunders – her casual use of cacophonies, in particular, is by now legendary – just like her 180 degree turn on the Romanian Deep State. Dancila was saying that a Deep State, a Shadow State exists, and that this entity had to be combated. But after Dragnea was sent to prison, Dancila swiftly changed her mind, and said publicly that she hadn’t knowledge that a Deep State exists, and that her party’s attempts to change the justice laws was a mistake. Quick observation. PSD had a comfortable majority in parliament, and they could have attempted to change the laws via parliament vote. Instead, they were so afraid to actually legislate, that they dumped all the responsibility [and the bad press implicitly] onto the executive. That’s the custom in Romanian affairs. The executive legislates via Government decrees, while parliament is simply there to invest or divest Governments.

Absolutely pathetic… but Dancila’s 180 degree turn happened well before the campaign season, and she’s a strawman anyway [of a corrupt party, and it’s not the sole corrupt party]. By far the biggest blunder was made recently by Klaus Iohannis [he makes cacophonies too, but the mainstream press mercenaries aren’t obsessed with him on this issue like they are with Dancila]. He said, “I no longer wish for Romanians to feel inferior to those [living] in the West.” It’s an absolute torture of logic, or mayhaps he was being straight, a rare thing in politics. There’s a Romanian saying – the sinner’s mouth tells the truth. If he no longer wishes that, it means up until now he wished for Romanians to feel inferior. What Iohannis should have said is “I don’t want Romanians to feel inferior to those living in the West.” He can hold hands with Dancila in saying stupid things; but Orban’s Finance Minister, Florin Citu, Saruman’s acolyte Grima Wormtongue, I think, takes the cake…

Last week Citu tried to involve himself in the electoral campaign and throw some dirt on the already dirty PSD, by invoking idiotic claims about the previous Government’s fiscal conduct. Citu accused them of running “parallel budgets,” that the “European partners didn’t even anticipate the actual budget” [wut?], that PSD behaved like Al Capone, and that they’ll report them to the authorities. Citu revealed that he’s completely parallel with basic accounting and his office.

Spending and tax revenue are two different things. A budget [funds allocated to be spent] is made on projections. And the Government may hit more or less above or below its target goal or goals; and if it’s below the objective, that doesn’t mean the Government ran “parallel budgets.” Most countries in the world run budget deficits, and there’s absolutely NOTHING wrong or corrupt about it. What matters is the money’s destination. Also, the Government’s net fiscal position is reactive to the domestic private and foreign sectors’ spending / saving behavior. Citu [his remarks] only managed to make a fool of himself, betraying his stark ignorance along with his hubris, while also contributing to the Leu’s depreciation trend on the FX market.

PNL invoked financial doomsday back when the PSD Government raised the minimum wage, ditto for PSD’s law of raising pensions, albeit in a flat manner – which disproportionately benefits the top bureaucrats [parasites], including the judges and prosecutors [the latter, under inexplicable Romanian law, being considered magistrates]. But now that PNL is in charge of the executive, Orban announced a minimum wage hike for next year. Now who’s the “populist”? Surely a market liberal would prefer tax cuts on labor, instead of hiking the minimum wage. But don’t expect ideological consistency in Romanian politics. After all, it was the social dems who slashed the tax on dividends [so-called leftists putting shareholders above workers].

Fine, dear, current executive; do what you will, but just kick Citu out of that ministry, because he’s completely parallel to his profession. And for God’s sake, stop bringing up the fiscal boogieman. In financial terms, Romania’s biggest problem is public and private debt owed in foreign currency. The state and private sectors ought to purchase more [goods and services] from domestic agents, instead of foreign ones. That would shrink demand leakages, increase money velocity, contributing to more jobs and higher incomes and less emigration. On Sunday, I’ll be off to invalidate my ballot again, just like in the first round, because the election system is rigged from start to finish, as is the count. Iohannis will be reelected, and the reformed communists [who are on the right] will claim it a victory against communism, just like they claimed it in the past when Emil Constantinescu and Traian Basescu won. And the security services and party machines will inflate Iohannis’ numbers so much, ironically in Ceausist fashion, to legitimize a supremely rigged election and simulation of democracy; and PSD is 100 percent complicit.