Presidential Elections in Romania 2014 Ethnic Nationalism and Discrimination The presidential elections in Romania are over. The results are still uncertain. The electoral campaign that ended on November 16th following a runoff ballot was described by many as the “dirtiest campaign” since 1989, when Romania overturned the communist regime. The battle was between a candidate who is Christian Orthodox and a candidate who is ethnically German and Protestant by religion. Both candidates were born in Romania and both are Romanian citizens. Amongst other specific aspects related to this campaign, the mass media monitored and reported on the extensive use of nationalistic and religious propaganda, aimed at manipulating and pressuring the population, chiefly the rural population, that it was a moral obligation of the Romanian people to elect a President who is “Christian Orthodox and Romanian”. The mass media also reported on the extensive role the Romanian Orthodox Church played in promoting and in some cases imposing this discriminatory message. For many years MCA Romania has warned against the dangers of this type of ethnic nationalism, which is manipulated and deliberately presented as patriotism for political purposes. Please note that we did not refer to it as extreme or ultra-nationalism; this is a form of nationalism which flows throughout the main-stream of the Romanian society. It is usually discretely promoted and manipulated for political purposes, but in this last campaign all attempts at discretion were dropped and ugly ethnic nationalism was pushed to the forefront. For too many years MCA’s warnings have been marginalized and ignored at all levels: by state institutions, Government, politicians, intellectuals and by many (too many) of the “good people” of Romania. Likewise some prominent leaders of the Jewish community have downplayed, for too long and for the wrong reasons, the extent and the effects of this insidious ethnic nationalism, silently and indirectly helping those who constantly claim that Romanian is “free of anti-Semitism” and is a “tolerant country where all minorities are treated equally”. De facto, this last electoral campaign has proved that MCA’s warnings were well-founded: slogans such as “we are proud to be Romanians” when used to oppose the election of a Romanian candidate with German ethnicity, messages such as “elect a Christian Orthodox and Romanian President”, the widely reported and open interference of the Romanian Christian Orthodox Church in the electoral process , the handshake between the leaders of the PSD (incumbents) and PRM (Greater Romania nationalist, anti-Semitic party), are just some of the elements that clearly show that in today’s Romania, in order to be elected to public office, it is obligatory to be ethnically Romanian (whatever that may mean) and most importantly, Christian Orthodox. For reason that we cannot determine, besides MCA Romania, no one within the Jewish community took a stand when the photo of the ethnic German candidate with a photoshopped Swastika on his forehead was published on the Facebook page of a member of the Romanian senate, a member of the PSD party. The ethnic German candidate was also subject to sinister intimidatory tactics such as when dozens of dead chickens were thrown into the grounds of his headquarters, something he denounced as threatening and reminiscent of Nazi practices. This incident in particular needs to be mentioned because no authority, no politician, condemned it. Another relevant event is when the rival Christian Orthodox candidate publicly asked the ethnic German candidate if he was able to sing the National Anthem of Romania. The ethnic German candidate responded by singing, on TV, the National Anthem of Romania. When asked by the journalists why he did not launch personal attacks on his rival and his rival’s family, as he himself had been subject to, the ethnic German candidate responded that he prefers to lose the election rather than to reach such a low and miserable level. This is why, regardless of the outcome, Romania is the loser in this last electoral campaign. Romania has lost in its efforts to convince the international community that it is conducting a genuine and effective campaign against discrimination and intolerance. Romania has lost in its efforts to prove it supports freedom of religion when the events described above prove that religious freedom is limited and conditioned. Monitoring the reactions stirred by an ethnic German who had the courage to run for the highest state office, we cannot avoid thinking what would have been the reaction and the public opinion manipulations if the candidate had happened to be a Jew or member of another minority. In conclusion we wish best of success to the newly elected President. Romania needs it. Maximillian Marco KATZ Founder – National Director Marius Draghici Director for International Relations MCA ROMANIA - The Center for Monitoring and Combating Antisemitism in Romania
Posted on: Sun, 16 Nov 2014 20:23:29 +0000
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