http://www.vivid.ro/index.php/issue/99/page/foreword/tstamp/1254755439 Don't be fooled again By Vivid writer: <http://www.vivid.ro/writers.php/writer/Andrew%20Begg/wrid/1/issue/99> Andrew Begg Don't be fooled by the latest political 'scandal', which is simply a ruse engineered to cover up the ineptitude of its makers
Posted: 05/10/2009 Stop the press: the PSD, in a show of solidarity for the interior minister Dana Nica - sacked for suggesting there might be corruption in the staging of November's presidential election - has quit the government coalition, causing it to collapse. Are people supposed to be shocked at such an outcome? There's no real governing going on in Romania anyway. You know it, I know it, and the vast majority of the other 21-odd million other people here know it too. One cannot help but feel that this is a mere sideshow - like many of the other political scandals that take up acres of column space and air time in the media, forcing ordinary Romanians to become involved, and engineered to cloak the real problems that this country faces, problems with which its rulers are incapable of dealing. Just before the latest political scandal I received an email from someone I have never met. I had thanked him for something, saying the good and gracious service that he provided was a rare thing in the Bucharest of today, and I received this in response: 'Romania is a ship without a driver for 20 years. Nobody from kindergarten to Government is punished for any kind of 'malpraxis'. Demential run for cheating others, insane run for money, no shame, no justice, no rules, no Christianity no long-term plans, everything NOW ! new generations brain-washed. Sometimes the Bruxelles politicians protect us from our leaders !!!!!!!!!!!!! incredible ...' These comments reflect those of the vast majority of Romanians today. Whoever I speak to - and I get around and speak to a wide range of people - the echo is the same. Romanians have had a gutful of being overrun and neglected by the ruling class. They feel worse than let down - they feel betrayed. Twenty years on from a revolution that could and should have forged a bold new path for a people that had been desperate for change, the country continues to be governed by people who are driven by greed and self-interest. Romanians feel as if their country, and with it their hopes and dreams have been stolen from them. It is not just that Romania's politicians are incompetent. What has been allowed to unfold has been criminal. The most damning aspect about the whole sad history of Romania's post-communist experience is that no matter who voters vote for, they do so knowing that whichever party rules is going to be no better than those that have come before it. They've all had a go now, from every wing of the political spectrum, but has there been one minister, let alone one prime minister, one president, even one mayor of Bucharest that has left a lasting legacy, a record of achievement that people can quote and make an example of? I think not. Yes, Romania has progressed in the last 20 years, but any progress has come about in spite of, not because of, its politicians. The EU has thrown billions of euros at Romanian governments but no matter where you look, no matter the sector, there is glaring evidence of neglect. The EU could, and should have taken a much harder line before admitting Romania as a member. It boggles the mind that, in 20 years since the Revolution, Romania's health system is still the poorest funded in the EU, that Romania has gone from being a net exporter to net importer of food, that literacy rates in schools are falling and dropout rates are rising, and that there is still just 150 kilometres of proper highway in the entire country. Every sector is a mess. Not one has sustained long-term improvement. All you need to do is go for a walk through Bucharest to understand the chaos the city is in, and that Bucharest is symbolic of the rest of the country. Successive Romanian governments have been so inept and so corrupt that you cannot help but feel that politicians here are laughing behind voters' backs. They are a club, and are all in it together. Don't be sucked in by the latest scandal. Ignore it, and get on with life. (C) Vivid ---------------------------- Vali "Noble blood is an accident of fortune; noble actions are the chief mark of greatness." "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace." Aboneaza-te la <mailto:ngo_list-subscr...@yahoogroups.com> ngo_list: o alternativa moderata (un pic) la [ngolist] Please consider the environment - do you really need to print this email?
