Romania in turmoil
Thursday 19 January 2012By Cristian Gherasim
As riots engulf the country questions are being raised as to what triggered the events in what has been, up to now, one of the most resilient nations to austerity cuts in Europe.
Make no mistake. Romanians are no strangers to hardships. It is after all part of their post-communist tradition to fare economically worse than their central European counterparts.
The trigger for popular discontent was a televised spat between President Băsescu and deputy Health Minister, Raed Arafat M.D.
What began as an opposition to a health care reform bill widened to a condemnation of the government’s austerity measures. The protests broke out after the deputy Health Minister, Raed Arafat, resigned objecting to health reforms proposed by the government. Critics of the bill argued that it favored private health care practitioners.
Facing mounting pressure President Traian Băsescu scraped the bill saying that he came to realize that it lacked support. Yet, the move did not pacify protesters calling for him to step down and for the government to resign. Protests continue even after the deputy prime minister had been reappointed.
It would be hasty to draw comparison to what the Spanish “indignados” or the “Occupy” movements were. The Romanian protests simply do not reach the scale and social impact that those movements had at national and international level. There’s still little we know about whether these protest are a genuine and spontaneous show of public anger or are being fueled by the political Opposition