Political conflicts in Romania in 2012 culminated with Parliament’s impeachment of president Traian Basescu

From the very beginning, 2012 promised to be a difficult, tense year because of political differences that triggered more or less predictable reversals in Romania, where four governments were in office. The year started under the sign of political vanity, social convulsions, anti-presidential and anti-government protests. In January, protesters took to the streets in Bucharest and in other cities, dissatisfied with the austerity measures announced by the then government made up of the Liberal Democratic Party, the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania and the National Union for Romania’s Progress. Under the pressure of the protests, on February 6th, Emil Boc handed in his resignation. He was replaced by the former head of the Foreign Intelligence Service Mihai Razvan Ungureanu. After an only 78-day term in office, the Ungureanu Government fell in the wake of a no-confidence motion filed by the Social Democratic Party and the National Liberal Party, in opposition at the time. The international media reported that prime minister Mihai Razvan Ungureanu had paid a high price for his government’s austerity plan, his office being taken over by social-democrat leader Victor Ponta, co-president of the Social Liberal Union, an alliance made up of the Social Democratic Party, the National Liberal Party and the Conservative Party. The clashes on the political scene ultimately culminated with the impeachment of president Traian Basescu, upon the initiative of the Social Liberal Union MPs in early July. Basescu resumed his office in late August, after the referendum of July 29th on his impeachment had been invalidated by the Constitutional Court.

The ruling Social Liberal Union won a landslide victory in the local elections in Romania in June and in the parliamentary elections of December 9th

Taking office in May, the Social Liberal Union won a landslide victory in the local elections held in Romania on June 10th. The candidates of the alliance got over 40% of the mayor positions, more than three quarters of the county council president positions, half of the county council seats and most local councils in Bucharest. Sorin Oprescu, a non-attached candidate backed by the Social Liberal Union, stayed in office as mayor of Bucharest, while 5 of Bucharest’s 6 sectors were won by the Union’s candidates. That was the first time when the mayors of the over 3,000 localities were elected in one round of voting. The Liberal Democratic Party, a pro-presidential party in opposition, suffered a bitter defeat, winning its only victory in Cluj, central Romania, where liberal-democrat leader and former prime minister Emil Boc became mayor again. The Social Liberal Union and the Liberal-Democratic Party were followed by the Dan Diaconescu People’s Party, a populist party bearing the name of its founder, a controversial businessman. Ten days after the local elections, a first was reported in the post-communist justice system: former social-democrat prime minister of Romania, Adrian Nastase, was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment with execution for corruption.

The Social Liberal Union wins the legislative elections in Romania

The Social Liberal Union made up of the Social Liberal Party, the National Liberal Party, the Conservative Party and the National Union for the Progress of Romania, is also the big winner of the parliamentary elections of December 9th. The result of the vote count showed the clearest victory in post-communist Romania. The Union won 395 seats, the Right Romania Alliance which formed around the pro-presidential Liberal Democratic Party won 80 seats, the Dan Diaconescu Party of the People won 68 seats, while the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania secured 27. Other ethnic minorities have 18 seats. Parliament currently has 588 members, which is the highest number since the collapse of communism in December 1989. The new cabinet, also led by Victor Ponta, has 27 ministers, some without portfolio, and 3 deputy prime ministers. Fiscal consolidation, economic recovery, creating new jobs and revising the Constitution are some of the Union’s priorities for the next 4 years.

Cristian Mungiu’s award winning film “Beyond the Hills” has been shortlisted for an Oscar nomination in the best foreign language film category

2012 has been a good year for Romanian cinema. Cristian Mungiu’s latest film “Beyond the Hills” received an award in Cannes for best screenplay and another for best female performance, which was shared by the leading actresses, Cristina Flutur and Cosmina Stratan. The film is based on a true story, which attracted a lot of public attention in 2005, when a young woman died during an exorcism ritual at a convent. “Beyond the Hills” has made the short list for an Oscar nomination in the best foreign language film category in 2013. Its director Cristian Mungiu triumphed at the Cannes Film Festival in 2007, when he won the prestigious Palme d’Or for his “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days.”

2012 has been a good year for Romanian sports

Romania won 9 medals at the Olympic Games hosted by London this summer, including 2 gold, 5 silver and 2 bronze. Romania’s gold medallists are Alin Moldoveanu, in the men’s 10 m air rifle competition, and Sandra Izbasa, in the vault event. After six years of modest performance, Romania has 2 teams in the knock-out stages of the European football competitions, as the champions CFR Cluj and Steaua Bucharest have secured their qualification in the Europa League round of 32. Last May, Bucharest’s National Arena stadium hosted the Europa League final, which was won by the Spanish side Atletico Madrid.