Cav's Place

This period begins with the commemoration of a month since the Colectiv club fire. There was no march or gathering, people simply being asked to go to the club, or more specifically to the now closed gate of the crumbling Communist-era factory where it was located, and pay their respects. Very few were there when I arrived, but I did find a fair number of candles and piles of flowers, though many of these seemed to have been there for a while. A number of signs and banners expressing grief or solidarity or wishing well to the injured could also be seen, alongside flags, icons and a large carved wooden cross. A few posts I saw indicated that, even though the event text asked people to go there between 1 PM and 5 PM, a fair number actually went during the evening, which was to be expected on a weekday.

December 1 is Romania’s National Day and there were various calls for protests or other such events to take place then, and quite a few of announcements that some will. However, it was quite clear that not much was actually going to happen and the only thing actually announced on the group was that those who had been asking people to answer their questionnaire since the start of these protests will be in the University Square fountain area for any who didn’t answer already and wish to do so.
Still, reports say that some 200 people did gather in that area in the evening, shouting and chanting slogans and eventually seeming to want to march to the club, at which point the Gendarmerie allowed them to do so on the street, which was strange considering the low numbers. They didn’t actually reach that place, however, as those at the head of the column changed the route, some wanting to reach the Government or the Parliament, and eventually turned back, stopping in the area between the two lanes.
At that point, according to a detailed report I saw, the gendarmes tried to get them to return to the fountain, though another group that was there at the time was trying to come towards them. When they did walk towards this other group, there was a struggle with the gendarmes, who became aggressive. This obviously infuriated the protesters, and a few attempted to block the road, even though by that point the others weren’t willing to support such an action anymore. It all eventually ended after the gendarmes, who were trying not to do anything that’d make them look bad once television crews arrived, agreed to allow people to return to the area they had first occupied at the end of that earlier march which never reached any destination.

On the evening of December 2, there was a debate about the recent protests and their results, though the actual discussions were preceded by a screening of Everyday Rebellion, meaning that they started later than many thought they would, as even some of the announced participants believed the film to be much shorter. Still, while a few did leave early, plenty did take part in the talks as well, and those went more or less in the expected directions.
Yes, this means quite a long time was wasted on questioning and attacking those who had participated in the consultations with the President. It also means that, once the topic of what can actually be done next was somehow squeezed in, those wishing for and even attempting to create political alternatives were challenged as vehemently as always by those who want to stick only to street protests and similar types of activism, distrusting the political system and politicians as a whole and being convinced that any who’d make such an attempt will soil themselves and quickly become as corrupt as those we’ve been protesting against, or that the very fact that they wish to do so means they already are. The view that the entire concept of representative democracy is in itself unacceptable and the only solution is the complete switch to a direct one was also vocally represented, though the moderator and one of the speakers tried to explain why that’s not a thought that any reasonable person should entertain for long.

The next day began with the news that the Chamber of Deputies voted to send back a law banning cyanide mining, requesting another opinion from the Industry and Services Committee and the Government. The proposal had been put forward all the way back in 2007, when it was rejected by the Senate, then made its way through the various Committees and seemed to pretty much vanish in 2008, before resurfacing this summer and being set to be rejected for good now. However, the result was obviously somewhat different, clearly thanks at least in part to all the messages sent and calls made to representatives, as part of a campaign demanding the law’s approval. Remains to be seen whether it’ll once again get lost now, at least until they’ll think they’ll manage to sneak it in largely unnoticed and reject it with less trouble.

Then, during the evening, another debate, this time about next year’s local elections, took place in the same location as the one from the previous day. It was organized by The Romania Initiative and had to do with the appeal they had sent, outlining a few steps to put together a project and support a team of honest candidates for Bucharest. As the one who so far openly joined their appeal was Nicusor Dan, he was also there and presented as the candidate supported by this platform, though it was repeatedly stated that if any others meeting the criteria will also join the appeal, they will be considered just as well.
Once again, the talks unfortunately went pretty much as expected, with accusations and conspiracy theories flying, some attempts to manipulate the crowd and a number of misguided suggestions, constructive discussions and proposals being rather few and far between. Something of a good news was that, when pressed, Nicusor Dan seemed to announce that he’ll make his team public in January and perhaps even start gathering the rest of the people needed for a successful campaign earlier, even though previous attempts made by some other known activists who are trying to create a political alternative, namely those who are now forming the United We Achieve Movement (MUR), didn’t seem to be able to change his plan of not focusing too much on the issue until March.

And speaking of MUR, their second formal meeting took place on December 6. If a lengthy video of the first one was posted, so anyone could easily see what was discussed, this time they seemed somewhat less open. Anyone who was interested was invited to attend, but those who did not could only see a brief statement mentioning only that the discussions were “much more applied” and a comment by one person who attended saying that the topics were matters of organization, program and strategy. A reply to a comment asking for more details indicated that a summary will be posted, but that didn’t happen.

Initially wanted this post to cover this week as well, and in truth there wouldn’t be that much to add about it, but I’ll stop here for now and hope to get up to date when I’ll write another. Since there is a protest tomorrow which I won’t attend but which has actually been announced on the group and openly supported by some of the known activists, I may want to get more information and add that as well in this next post, so I’m not sure whether I should aim for tomorrow or the day after, but hope it won’t be later than that.
On the other hand, while they seem to be doing some useful and perhaps even necessary things, The Romania Initiative keeps being rather off my radar, and not only because most of the other activists tend to continue to give them a cold shoulder for reasons I won’t get into again. The thing is that, while claiming not to want to become a party, they’re more political and more formal than MUR, which is registering as one, and also simply give me a feeling of coming from a direction I’m rather uncomfortable with. When I do look into their activities, I’m seeing some things I should be supporting and mentioning in such posts and they seem to be doing more towards giving the political alternatives we all need a better chance, but I’m nevertheless having a rather hard time persuading myself to do so enough to continue. Therefore, though I’m aware that, until proven otherwise, it’s unfair and even simply wrong, I’m seriously considering more or less ignoring them and only mentioning what I happen to otherwise somehow become interested in, if anything.