On Sunday, two of our candidates will be presented in the most important presidential finals in history: On the one hand, the Mayor of Bucharest Nicușor Dan – a brilliant mathematician with excellent administrative results, an incompetent and fully devoted law. On the other hand, George Simion – an eccentric deputy, a problem person, a promoter of aggressive ultranationalism and nihilism, whose education cannot be talked about without doubt.
For Romania, who longs for melitocracy, disgusted with false leaders, Nicuor Dan is the right man. But there is also other Romania that suffocates lies, protectionism and constantly incompetent politicians, a country whose villages and towns have long been left by people working in the West. A model for this Romania, deprived of hope, is George Simion, a man of football fans who copes with the system and finds supporters.
While Nicuor promises Romanian stability and honesty, George proclaims economic pogrors of civil servants-he wants to release 500,000 people-and deviations such as “houses for 35,000 euros” and “zero interest on bank loans”. The first is against Russian politics, the second is not interested in the fate of Ukraine. Nicușor is pro-nato and pro-EU, George reports that the times when the Romanians knelt in Brussels were over. He – cunning – expresses his admiration for Viktor Orbán in the hope of getting Hungarian voters. Because Orbán is an interesting political figure for us. We know how he holds everything in his country in his hands and that he and his Minister of Foreign Affairs are special guests in the EU, but many Romanians perceive it all as a manifestation of courage, political dignity and patriotism. In addition, by active participation in our entry into the Schengen area, Viktor Orbán has silenced many of his critics in Romania.
People in Romania have enough traditional parties – all have been in power since 1989 and all disappointed. It is no coincidence that George Simion has also achieved great success in the diaspora, which is mostly Romanians who lost all hope at home and therefore went to work abroad. It is they who, for this reason, left their children at home with grandparents and are also the largest “investor” company that sends home seven billion euros every year.
Nevertheless, whenever these people return home, they witness the destruction of their birthplace that nothing is happening there, only local barons and their people are prospering. Therefore, they are punished. As they did with former Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, when he said last autumn that Diaspora members “left because they didn’t have a job”. The result? Cooluc did not even get to the second round of the December elections in 2024. And frustration only increased when the Constitutional Court – illegally – canceled the results of the first round of the presidential election at the end of last year. In fact, the big December favorite Calin Georgescu was banned from running in May. George Simion was at this wave of sympathy.
It is he who says everything that the poor Romanians want to hear, a nationalist-sonist who now does not mix all this with anti-Hungarian speeches. It is fearless and disagrees with the arming Romania, for example, and instead would spend the money to schools, and it is he who announces that if he wins, nationalized large companies that use the country’s natural resources.
Simion is not a big speaker, but he is still much better than his opponent Nicușor Dan. And there is another huge difference between them: unlike the mayor of the capital, Simion traveled the whole country!
When I was young, Romania, which I dreamed of myself and for future generations, for my unborn grandchildren, was a beautiful place where one could live without frustration from discrimination, poverty and helplessness. Where there were no gross social inequalities where there was no suffering caused by violence, unemployment or hunger that today affects a quarter of our children.
This is not where we are
I am tired of listening to that nothing can be done in my country because the “system” is ubiquitous. That obvious failures are presented as great success. It is unacceptable that even after the second half of my life, I still have to choose less evil.
In thirty -five years, the party -depicted fraud and protectionism have created an atmosphere of uncertainty in Romania. They destroyed the confidence of the Romanians in their institutions, produced false prophets, and the result is already visible everywhere: a country without self -esteem, where aggression is everywhere and promising a grim future.
This is a country I don’t want. And yet I believe that the country of my dreams will be fulfilled one day.
Sunday 18. May is a decisive step towards that. It may not work out, but I won’t give up my dream.
(Libertatea are the Romanian sister newspaper)
