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H av e We R e a l l y Lo s t i n R om a n i a ?
VIII. Have We Really Lost?
It is seems clear that center right lost the 2000 battle politically, but it did win several other
things. Not only the parties won, but also democratic life in Romania.
First, the new center-right government beginning in 2005 obviously learned a number of
lessons. The new alliance between Liberals (PNL) and Democrats (PD) was established on
a sound basis. An agreement negotiated between the two parties was designed to prevent
infighting while in power. Almost every conceivable situation finds a solution in this Al-
liance protocol. Although other small parties wanted to join the Alliance in 2004, both
Democrats and Liberals resisted any enlargement of the coalition, given the negative ex-
perience with coordination of such bodies during the 1996-2000 period. The promises
the Alliance made before 2004 elections were realistic and rather moderate, so as not to
increase the expectations of the voters.
What was probably not yet learned from 1997-2000 experiences was the precariousness
of the ghost hunting promises. Even the name of the new center-right coalition – “Justice
and Truth” – is a bit idealistic. While the justice system needs to be profoundly reformed,
and the first hundred days in government showed that the Alliance was determined to
change things, soon a battle may break out among the incumbents themselves. Truth is
hard to hear and justice difficult to accomplish. Despite the fact that both Liberals and
Democrats strived to remove old and compromised figures from their parties, there are
still prominent members that were accused of corruption and malpractice before. How
will they handle these accusations without destroying government solidarity? Now both
Liberals and Democrats have PNTCD as living proof of how fast a party can fall from a
dominant position at the center of political system to oblivion.
APPENDIX:
List of Major Parties and Their Acronyms
Alliance for Romania - ApR
Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania – UDMR
Democratic Convention of Romania - CDR
Democratic National Salvation Front -FDSN
Democratic Party – PD
Greater Romania Party - PRM
National Liberal Party – PNL
National Peasant Party Christian Democratic - PNTCD
National Salvation Front – FSN
Party of Romanian National Unity - PUNR
Romanian Party of Social Democracy – PDSR
Social Democratic Party - PSD
