Cav's Place

As the week before, Monday was spent discussing the previous march and what to do next, Tuesday saw the poll with the three suggested routes being posted, and the schedule called for voting to end on Wednesday, this time at the very end of the day, though the post remained pinned for quite some time after that as well. Unlike last week, not much happened on Thursday, seeing as the fliers only arrived on Friday, so that was when the action groups met, a banner workshop taking place at the same time. On the other hand, Saturday was quite busy, members of the action groups struggling to spread awareness among college students living in dormitories while at the same time, in Izvor park, preparations for forming the leaf were made and a “loudspeaker workshop” took place, those who answered the call for some new faces leading the chants being taught the ropes by the more experienced activists.
Otherwise, the Special Commission formed to supposedly investigate the matter completed the hearings on Friday, the very last day being the second dedicated to representatives of the protesters. Of course, we still boycotted these hearings and it was clearly stated that anyone who attends will not be, or will no longer be, recognized as being part of the movement, but that obviously didn’t stop a number of people from showing up. Some of those were likely there simply to show off, but others either stated that they disagreed with the boycott or, in some cases, had somehow managed to simply be unaware of it. I even recognized one of the names, though I was hardly surprised to see that guy show off, seeing as he’s part of a religious group that keeps trying to make itself more visible and push its agenda on other movements.

Seventh Sunday march: For the first time, there was no time set for people to start gathering, the only thing announced being that the march was supposed to start at 4 PM. As expected, that proved impossible due to the very low number of people who had actually arrived at the specified location by then, so we only got moving around 4:45 PM and that meant it was almost 6 PM when we arrived at Victoriei Square, though the initial plan was to start arriving there at 5 PM, start forming the leaf at 5:30 PM and leave again at 6 PM. The fact that some activists rushed ahead and a significant number of people gathered directly at Victoriei and waited for us to join them did help us recover some time, as the leaf was formed somewhat faster than expected and we got moving again around 6:30 PM.
At Victoriei, where a relatively accurate count wasn’t particularly difficult to make, estimates ranged between 2000 and 3000, with the known activists also initially saying 3000 before correcting to 2500 by Monday. However, our numbers continued to grow later, my own estimate after we once again occupied University Square being that we were just shy of 5000, maybe 4500, which wasn’t far from the estimate of 4000 apparently made by the Gendarmerie. Still, considering the incident I’ll describe below, the peak was clearly before actually entering the Square, many activists initially claiming that we were at least 10000 at that time. Some continue to stand firm behind that number even now, though others put forward more reasonable estimates ranging between 5000 and 7000, the upper half of that range seeming fair to me as well.
As such, the turnout was disappointing compared to the other marches, the only ones that were worse being the first and the fifth, the weather obviously being to blame in this latter case. However, around three hours passed between the start and the end of the march, so we actually walked for just under two and a half hours, and the amount of support we received during that time seemed to be at least on par with what we experienced during the first ones, which lasted for three and a half or even four hours. While the fact that fewer actually joined us was disappointing, it was pleasing to see how many were waving, clapping, cheering or even displaying signs or banners as we walked past their apartments.
We reached University Square at 7:45 PM, but only the cyclists actually entered it then, the rest of us being stopped from doing so for about ten minutes. Unfortunately, though one would be inclined to expect people to want to stand their ground even longer after being held back, those who didn’t leave even before we broke through started clearing soon after, allowing the gendarmes to slowly close in and reopen the roads for traffic one by one, eventually pushing the last protesters onto the sidewalk around 9:15 PM, when probably around 200 of us were left. According to a report I saw, it was after 10 PM, perhaps even close to 10:30 PM, when the area cleared completely, but hardly anything was still happening when I left, at 9:30 PM.
Returning to the march itself, the organization was better, obviously as a result of another slight increase in the number of people trying to keep things together coupled with the decrease in the number of participants. However, the most notable achievement was forming the leaf, and relatively quickly as well, the steps taken in order to ensure that proving that the movement is becoming somewhat more mature. Granted, in itself, I personally felt that the leaf was a rather pointless little stunt and didn’t even mean to take part until I actually got there and said I might as well, but it is encouraging if seen as a sign of what may be achieved in the future.
As far as incidents go, the most notable one took place at the end of the march, when the gendarmes formed a line and kept us from occupying University Square for about ten minutes. It was odd, particularly since traffic was already blocked by the cyclists who had gone ahead and were circling around, and they didn’t do anything other than try to hold us back until enough people were determined enough to push forward to break through, but it caused quite a few to leave, worried that the situation will escalate. I also heard that a little more pushing and shoving took place after I left, perhaps involving a few protesters who wanted to get back on the road, but the only other incident I clearly know of was when the gendarmes climbed to the top of a building to remove a group of people who had displayed a banner and lit torches. I have no idea why they removed them and the situation got rather tense for a few moments, some protesters reacting to this behavior, but things quickly calmed down and the march continued peacefully.
In the end, there are good and bad things to take out of this seventh Sunday march, the good having to do with the fact that the movement seems to be maturing and those few people who keep trying to hold things together despite being challenged and accused by so many every step of the way seem to be getting slightly better at what they need to do. As for the bad, I’m not sure whether the low turnout is worse than the change in the behavior of the gendarmes or the other way around, but both are worrying developments, the fact that we seemed to get more support than we got during the past few weeks likely not making up for either of these things. Worse, numbers dropped significantly in the other cities as well and the gendarmes used force to end the Brasov protest after the county’s prefect arrived in the area.

Now we’ll see what the future holds, seeing as the challenges keep mounting and it even got to the point that people who keep rejecting the course of action set by the known activists, and perhaps any leadership whatsoever, even announced a separate seventh Sunday march, meant to counter ours. Thankfully, few paid them much attention, no real problems seem to have been caused by it and the other attacks largely stayed on-line so far, but when you add the fact that both the governing coalition and the opposition are using their arsenal to divide and dishearten us to how stupid so many people are, there are reasons for concern.
Personally, I think that some sort of leadership is not only desirable, but actually required if such a movement is to have any real chance to succeed. As such, I wish this group of people who keep trying to hold everything together, whom I so far have no reason to distrust, would take up the role much more clearly and visibly, though of course while also continuing to accept and even directly request ideas and advice from the other protesters in order to determine the best strategy. There are many things to do and the forces we’re up against have far more power, resources and experience than we do, so we need to be focused, determined and take matters one by one, not split into who knows how many little groups according to each person’s priorities, sympathies, whims and ego. Rosia Montana is merely the beginning, but we must make sure that stupidity and ego won’t turn it into the end, because they’re probably even worse threats than our opponents’ tactics.