EU INSIGHT
EU INSIGHT
Romania’s Civic Revolution Mihai Sebe
Expert, European Institute of Romania, Romanian researcher in Political Sciences specialised in European and Romanian Politics
Protesters shout anti-government slogans during a rally in Bucharest, Romania (AP Photo/VadimGhirda)
Although Romania has become the region’s benchmark in the anti-corruption fight, reaching a good practice model still requires some fine-tuning. Added to this background of anti-corruption monitoring is Romania’s Euro-optimism and trust in the European institutions (52%)– a level higher than the European average (36%)2. We must also remember what has become a trademark for Romanian civic protests – the fact that they have become a constant social manifestation since 2012, with a value based motivation rather than an economic one. How did it all begin? The protests burst out after a failed attempt of government to introduce a legislative piece that would decriminalize official misconduct under certain conditions. This happened on the background of a strong opposition of the Romanian president Klaus Iohannis and that of the professional associations. Why perception matters and being legal is sometimes not enough. Even though it drew its legitimacy from the need to update the Penal Code with the decisions of the Constitutional Court, the new legislative was to be passed in a rush and without any consistent debate, which caused the uproar leading up to the protests. Simply put, the message this conduct sent out was that the government officials were simply looking for a quick way to get away with what they have done in the past (or were about to do in the near future), breaching the rules of good governance. The peculiarities of the civic protests. What sets these civic protests apart is their non-violent character and the lack of an assumed leadership.An interesting characteristic was also the presence of young people and of persons up to the age of fifty. The majority of participants had prior protest experiences (67%), which provided for an effective protest know-how.Showcasing the power of social media, 75% of the protesters used Facebook as a main communication tool regarding the protests.3 What was the immediate outcome? Facing the growing pressure, the government withdrewits support for the controversial legislative piece and let the way open for the Parliament debates on the topic. This shows that the collective wisdom of all the parties put together can indeed lead to a quick and politically acceptable agreement, whereupon any required legislative amendments are adopted through a democratic, comprehensive and credible consultation process involving all the relevant actors. The shape of things to come. The novelty of these protests and their importance reside in the use of the cybernetic space as a stage for their spontaneous evolution, based on the virtual support and the absence of clear leadership.
Romania’s civic dissatisfaction was perceived as the first major pro-EU and pro-Western upheaval in the post-Brexit Europe in a region knownbetter for frequent democratic transgressions rather than as a pro-liberal hub. Why does this matter? It matters because the protest came in some of the most troubling moments for the liberal democracy. TheEuropean Uniondesperately needed a motivational story, an inspiration for a confused civic
body. Thus the civic protests that came from a region of Europe too often associated with populist tendencies were perceived as a shining beacon of democratic hope. How did we get here? In order to better understand the civic character of these protests we need to remember that since joining the European Union in 2007, Romania, just like Bulgaria, has been under a constant monitorisation through the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM)1.
1 See more about the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism for Bulgaria and Romania on the European Commission website at https://ec.europa.eu/info/effective-justice/rule-law/ assistance-bulgaria-and-romania-under-cvm/cooperation-and-verification-mechanism-bulgaria-and-romania_en Last visited on 18 April 2017.
34 GLOBSEC MAGAZINE
A hypothesis which needs to be further researched and validated is that a new type of political governance is about to emerge in Romania, a sort of Third Wave Politics, in the way Alvin Toffler predicted them. Up to now the government had the legitimacy of the votes obtained at the beginning of the electoral cycle (“rule-by-periodic polling at the elections booth”) and this legitimacy was perceived as a de factodecisive argument for any decision. Now
Showcasing the power of social media, 75% of the protesters used Facebook as a main communication tool regarding the protests. we see that this no longer seems to work and that any decision needs to be validated by the citizens, even those who didn’t vote for the government in place. Tomorrow’s electorate is now on the streets and people who until recently did not pay any attention to the intricacies of political system now seem to have rediscovered their civic duties.These Third Wave electors are fluid, often driven by emotion and/or principles, and have the tendency to reject the old playbook of political rules in force. We thushave,in nuce, a new type of society in Romania, a Society 2.0. It is not a reality that can win elections, but it does show the way toward a possible, yet not definitive future, where the combination of new technologies and social networks with the collective and individual emotion would shape the political landscape. This emerging society must not conflict with the older generations or the public authorities; we need to find the right proportions and bring back the balance. The challenges of the future (such as the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the Internet of Things, e-governance, etc.) can only be faced in a collective effort to maintain the balance between much needed social equilibrium and the valorisation of future opportunities. This new-found energy and desire to challenge what is perceived as an obsolete status-quo can be tackled and put to good use at the European level in order to redefine the future of Europe and confront its real problems: poverty, lack of security and individual perspectives, perceived democratic deficit, etc. Moreover, this renewed civic activism and passion for Europe might just be the antidote to the surge of populism and self-harming nationalism and regionalism. The future has the quality of coming upon us whether we like it or not. All we can do is be prepared to shape it positively as autonomous people. ■
2 Eurobarometer 86, December 2016,available online at http://ec.europa.eu/commfrontoffice/publicopinion/index.cfm/Survey/getSurveyDetail/instruments/STANDARD/surveyKy/2137 Last visited on 18 April 2017. 3 Dan Jurcan, „Protest în era digitală” [“Digital Era Protest”] in Sinteze, no. 38, March – April 2017, available online at http://revistasinteza.ro/ Last visited on 18 April 2017. i The views expressed here are solely those of the author in his private capacity and do not in any way represent the views of the official position of any institutions with which he is affiliated or collaborates with.
GLOBSEC MAGAZINE 35