The Vote of the Underdogs …

The Sunday vote brought about a reality that only the naïve or the ill-intended would not interpret for what it is. The Social Democrat Party’s (SDP) failure is here to stay, no matter the rapping and ribbons under which the failure of the party will be presented, either with counting the overall number of mandates and votes or with publicizing the few success stories.

The SDP lost the mayoral seats in a cluster of county capitals, starting with the country capital, Bucharest, and continuing with Timisoara, Brasov, Cluj, Bacau, Oradea, Arad, etc.
This must be painful for the party, all the more so since these cities were under its command, while for other cities not on its list now it engaged teeth-and-claws fights, throwing in candidates from its ministerial ranks and doing its utmost to tarnish the reputation of their opponents.

This was a highly politicized vote, no doubt about that, as it is crystal clear no one voted for candidates like Inimaroiu or Poteras (TR. NOTE: candidates of the Democrat Party-National Liberal Party Alliance, who won the mayoral seats for two of the six Bucharest districts), but against the ruling SDP.
This vote it is indicative of the severe discontent Romanians have with their economic status.

The businessmen, and by extension, their employees, had enough to see their revenues or salaries dependent on the hefty financial contributions made to the (SDP) master’s coffers, who rules over the public money.
The powerful of the day name themselves with pet names like "we, ourselves, and our own people." These are those who make up the circle were public money go around, dispensed by some as if they owned it.

With the exception of the happy few who willy-nilly pay their dues to the party, the private entrepreneurs cannot take anymore the systematic pressure they are subjected to, neither the constant oppression of evermore hiked taxes, nor the deviously and intently chaotic change of laws, nor the trumpeted economic growth that no one feels in one’s pockets.

The Romanian entrepreneur or just the lay citizen with no political affiliations did nothing else but amend this Executive for a repugnant economic status with the only weapon at hand: his or her ballot.
These Romanians voted against the hiked bills and poorer services, against the arrogance of the public servants, and last but not least, against the stake that fails to materialize on their plates …

In the country where even grass will take root only if the ruling party allows it to, the 2004 local elections were a lesson in democracy and civic engagement, even though the turnout to the polls was modest.
In a democracy, any ruling can be overturned in one day by the power of the ballot, decided upon in the privacy of the voting booth. When the booth curtain falls shielding the voter inside it, the economic reality beats up the political noise.