Page 45 - bne magazine March 2017 issue

bne March 2017 Cover Story I 45
It was a sign of the level of panic in powers also shows that Romania is a charges, is currently on trial for abuse
the Romanian government over
recent mass anti-corruption protests that the head of the ruling Social Demo- cratic Party (PSD), which is desperately trying to attract foreign investment, was heard attacking multinationals like Raif- feisen Bank International for supporting and even participating in the protests.
PSD leader Liviu Dragnea implied in a television interview that RBI Romania head Steven van Groningen – who has written about attending the protests
in his personal blog – was taking part because of new legislation governing the banking sector, previously criticised by international banks but totally uncon- nected to the protests.
In a post titled “Yes, I too was in the square”, van Groningen, who has lived in Romania for 20 years, defended his decision to take part in the protests as
a “personal decision”. “Before being president of the bank I am a father and I care about my children's future and the country in which they live,” he wrote.
Dragnea’s attack on the “Blogging Banker”, though he did not identify van Groningen by name, has been echoed
in the pro-government media, alarm- ing the international community in Romania. In a February 9 statement,
the American Chamber of Commerce (Amcham) Romania, which represents major investors in the country, called out the statements as untrue and unhealthy, noting that given Romania’s “competi- tive edge is affected by the brain drain and demographic trends, stigmatising employees due to the country of origin of the shareholders only builds up an unnecessary tension and lack of confi- dence among employees and employers, while also sending a negative signal to investors”.
But while investors are naturally unnerved by the prospect of political unrest, the protests have also shown how firmly entrenched Romania’s anti-corruption fight is now in the public’s consciousness. The willingness of hundreds and thousands of people to use peaceful protests to thwart their government’s attempts to abuse its
maturing democracy – and its people are determined to keep it that way.
‘Hotii’ in the night
The mass protests that forced the government’s U-turn on a controversial decree that would have watered down anti-corruption legislation began on January 19, and have taken place daily since the decree was adopted on January 31. By February 5, the numbers had risen to over half a million. Around 300,000 people, or almost one in six of the capi- tal’s population, filled Bucharest’s huge Victory Square, while tens of thousands also protested in cities and towns across the country. Even as temperatures plum- meted to -11°Celsius the following week, thousands of people continued to flock to the square nightly to keep up the pres- sure on the government.
Their anger was focussed on the emer- gency decree quietly adopted by the government at a late-night session on January 31. Had it come into force, the decree would have partly decriminalised abuse of office, making it a criminal offence only in cases resulting in dam- ages of RON200,000 (€45,000) or over. Separate legislation also being consid- ered by the government would result
of office. The damages in his case are RON108,000 – conveniently below the threshold.
“Hotii” (the thieves) is one of the most used chants of the protesters, along with “PSD, the red plague”. A group of larger- than-life marionettes in prison stripes, representing top PSD leaders includ-
ing Dragnea and Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu, often makes an appearance at protests, bobbing above the heads of the crowd in Victory Square. Since these are grassroots protests, organised over Facebook, most of the placards and ban- ners are handmade with slogans such as “In democracy, thieves stay in prison”, “Stand up for what is right, you are not standing alone”, and even “Dragnea, make Jilava great again” (Jilava is
the name of a prison near Bucharest). Inspired by the protests and creativity of the banners, Romanian publishing house Curtea Veche Publishing even announced on February 7 that it would release an album called #rezist with pictures of protest banners.
Iconic images from the protests have gone viral on social media around the world. At 9:00pm on February 5, hun- dreds of thousands of mobile torches lit
“Should the protests become successful and calm down, Romania could even come out stronger from this crisis”
in pardons for many people convicted
of corruption-related offences as well
as other crimes. These two measures would have reversed years of work by Romanians to finally end the country’s dubious reputation of having one of the worst anti-corruption records among EU member states.
Protesters rightly pointed out that the decree would make it legal to steal up
to eight times the average salary in Romania from the state. It is no coin- cidence that Dragnea, who leads the largest party in parliament but cannot be prime minister while facing corruption
up Victory Square. A similar stunt was organised the following Sunday, when protesters held their torches under red, yellow and blue papers to create a huge Romanian tricolour flag, which was photographed from the high buildings surrounding the square.
The protests have also been notable for their lack of violence. There has only been one violent incident, when a group hurled objects at the police on February 1 and were repulsed by tear gas. However, the group was revealed by Interior Minister Carmen Dan to be supporters of two sporting clubs, one
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