Romanian Politics have only one Champion!
Mr. George Simion, president of AUR, and senator Claudiu Tarziu.
Today we are going to tell you the story of a young Romanian politician who succeeded in creating a real revolutionary current in Romania, a real Che Guevara. The year was 2018. For three days in a row, close to 100.000 people took to the streets in Romania’s capital city, Bucharest, to protest what they saw as a corrupt government, and to call for new elections. For the first time after the fall of Communism in late 1989, Romanians were united and driven by a common goal: no more corruption!
But why did that happen? In January 2017, days after the Grindeanu Cabinet was sworn into office in Romania, bills were being put forward by the Romanian Ministry of Justice regarding the pardoning of certain crimes, and ammendaments to the Penal Code, which included: limiting the powers of the National Anticorruption Agency (DNA) which had been responsible for prosecuting many high-profile politicians, reducing the penalties for certain corruption offences, and giving the justice minister greater control over the appointment of judges and prosecutors.
Romanians saw it all for what it really was: an effort by the ruling party to weaken the judiciary and, essentially pardon themselves, or make sure they won’t be punished for being corrupt.
Romanians protestors gathered in Bucharest in 2018
We would like to say that, ultimately, the protests led to the withdrawal of the proposed changes to the justice system and highlighted the deep-seated frustration that many Romanians feel with their political system. But, this was not the case.
The bill that enraged Romanians was repealed, however, and the Minister of Justice, Florin Iordache, seen as the main responsible, resigned on February 8th, 2017, but was later elected president of the Special Parliamentary Commission for ensuring legislative stability in the field of Justice. The governments that succeeded the one led by Sorin Grindeanu (dismissed by a motion of censure by his own party) continued the series of amendments to justice laws, The abuse of power, for example, one of the causes of the protest movement, was almost completely decriminalised by July 2nd 2018.
This brings us to today. Not much has changed in Romania’s politics since 2018. More protests, more resignations from party leaders, multiple government and alliances fighting for power…all of this has done nothing but highlight the deep-seated frustration that many Romanians feel with their political system and the need for significant reform.
So, as Donald Trump was being elected in the West, George Simion, a Romanian right-wing politician and civic activist, was paying close attention. What if he could mimic Trump’s ideology and get a nationalistic surge in his country as well? But Simion is no billionaire, and, up until then, nobody had really heard of him. So, he devised a plan that could get him a seat at the political table, and, ultimately the presidency. Reading very well between the lines of the political, social and economic context in Romania, George Simion understood the people’s frustrations and, as some politicians often do, decided to exploit them.
And he found just the platform to make himself heard: The Alliance for the Union of Romanians (Romanian: Alianța pentru Unirea Românilor, AUR), a right-wing populist and nationalist political party which was founded on the 19th of September 2019. The party seeks the unification of Moldova and Romania, supports NATO membership and aims for energy independence for Romania. In theory. It claims it is a centre-right Christian democratic party. This is the kind of discourse that has the potential to attract large numbers of people. Yet, AUR has been accused of supporting anti-vaccination ideas and being Magyarophobic, neo-fascist, pro-Russian, and antisemitic, although relevant figures of the party have rejected all these accusations. The party states that its four main pillars are “family, nation, Christian faith, and liberty”.
George Simion, the President of AUR, pictured here on a campaign poster
Few had heard of the AUR party until 2020, when it stunned Romanians at the ballot box in the parliamentary elections. AUR rose from obscurity to take almost 9% of the overall vote, mostly because they played the anti-medicine, anti-vaccination, and anti-restrictions card to a population that is not truly educated in health issues. The unexpected emergence of AUR ultimately revealed an election that failed to inspire voters. Overall turnout represented a historic low at less than 32%, in part due to voter apathy but also due to concerns over the coronavirus pandemic. The election results also forced the resignation of prime minister Ludovic Orban of the National Liberal Party (PNL), after his party got around 25% of the overall votes. PNL was widely expected to beat the Social Democrat Party (PSD) which took around 30% of the votes. But it didn’t.
“Romanians are fed up with theft, lies and a lack of attachment to national values!” George Simion, AUR founder
Fast forward to present day, AUR is on track to win the majority of votes in the upcoming elections. How did they get here, though? First of all, AUR was the first party in Romania to run its electoral campaign on Facebook. They stood out through the live broadcasts shared in the bazaar groups, in dating groups, even in recipe groups.
Their marketing endeavours point to their clear strategy of appealing to voters over a certain age, more precisely, the former voters of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) who were left without any political party to tackle the nationalist and conservative sides, as Liviu Dragnea did during the rallies he held around the country. Second, the populist speeches of those in the AUR party, more precisely, of its leader George Simion, target an audience that is mostly uneducated, unaware of their history, political environment or values. On December 23rd, 2020, during debates in the Romanian Parliament , Simion said:
“Romanian people, refuse to pay your bills, refuse as much as possible to pay your taxes, get in touch with the Romanian peasants and buy directly from them. Either way, though, your money will end up being stolen. Stop paying taxes, fight to reopen businesses, let’s reopen schools together!” For someone who doesn’t know much about economics, Simion’s anti-tax message is catchy and sounds accurate. It’s understandable why. Many Romanians are fed up with the poor conditions of their health and education systems. Also, the phrase “Romanian people” refers to nationalists and patriots, those who believe that society and politics are unfair to them, and mourn Vlad Țepeș, a barbaric, medieval Romanian ruler from the 15th century. National identity has always been a convenient mechanism to gain political capital. The rise of Nazism in Germany after World War I, Stalinism, and of course the legionary movement that nationalists deplore to this day, are three big examples. And the recipe works in almost any decade we find ourselves in.
As we said before, many votes won by the AUR party, come from PSD, but we must not forget that AUR is also winning the votes of young people who are disappointed by the policy and program of the USR party. The irony is that the two parties have more things in common than you might think at first glance: both believe that meritocracy is important in society, that criminals have no place in the parliament, and they believe that unification with Moldova is a priority.
George Simion, embracing one of his supporters at an AUR rally
History teaches us people don’t vote for ideologies, they vote for..people!
In 2004, the Greater Romania Party (PRM) led by Corneliu Vadim Tudor won 11.4% of the total votes cast. Even if the PRM program was neo-fascist, Vadim Tudor won the sympathy of the public through his tough message against the “mafia” in the government, but also through the ultra-nationalist messages that can be found, again, in the speech of the AUR party. Another lesson that recent history has taught us, comes from the electoral campaign for the presidential elections in 2004, when Traian Băsescu stood out through his appearances in the public square and his down to earth demeanor. On the other hand, his opponent (who ended up losing the Presidency), Adrian Nastase, was more reserved, diplomatic, and did not want to go out into the streets and talk to his voters.
Today, just like Traian Băsescu, George Simion is very present among the people. Of course, most of the times he’s dressed up in the Romanian national costume, to show that he’s an “authentic Romanian”. In addition, he does not shy away from charitable actions either, as it was the case when he provided financial assistance to a family of Romanians from a village in Covasna populated mostly by ethnic Hungarians. It’s no wonder that Simion’s party is on track to possibly win the 2024 elections. In the past 15 months AUR managed to rise from 1% in voting intention in September 2020, to almost 20% in December 2021.
AUR rejects the label of “extremist” party, but assumes that of “anti-system party”. In an Avangarde survey, commissioned by PSD, PNL is rated with 18% and AUR with 19%.
But AUR has no reforms. It does not have any relevant governing experience either. What AUR does is just to condemn the measures taken by any opposers. And affiliate itself with the ideology of extreme conservatives, conspiracy theory enthusiasts and extreme right nationalists: no more “political correctness”, no more “cancel culture”, no more “woke agenda”. If they’ll manage to win the elections, well, that remains to be seen. But, so far, AUR is on track to do just that!
By Ioana Constantin
