Cav's Place

This will be a rushed protest update, but it’s either this or nothing, already too much to cover anyway, so I’ll lump things together and go through others as quickly as I can. While daily protests have continued, just moving to the Parliament now, this particular stage of this battle is quite lost anyway, most of the proposed changes that have to do with the justice system passing through the Parliament and others being scheduled to do so soon, the ruling coalition having even changed regulations to prevent the opposition from even delaying them anymore. Saw a good post from Claudiu a week ago, stating that it’s time to regroup and prepare for the next stages, because the changes will be approved by the Parliament but there are more steps to come and that’s where the focus needs to move.

On December 10 there was another Sunday protest, with no march planned but people again being called to come to Victory Square from 6 PM, right after leaders of the groups that sort of try to organize these protests and those of opposition parties held a brief joint press conference. I for one got there at 6:50 PM, just when the gendarmes were stopping traffic on the surrounding roads, with the exception of the one separating the area from the Government building, and left at 9 PM, when those remaining were singing the anthem and the large number of gendarmes in riot gear which had apparently been in the area but which I for one just spotted at that point, around the side of the Government building, were just clearing away. According to reports, the protest was dying out around 9:30 PM, with mere hundreds remaining, but estimates are of about 15000 at the peak. I thought there had been even more while I was there, but since I’m not seeing higher numbers from reliable sources, I guess I’ll have to go with that. Otherwise, you can have a look at the pictures I took, which also include the group carrying around crosses with major problems of the health system written on them, but sadly do not include any signs of solidarity with Polish protesters, because I could find none even though there had been an “official” post asking participants to show their support for them that evening.

While the Victory Square regulars were obviously going to continue, activists that were part of the United We Save movement and the groups formed by some of them, referring to those not keeping a low profile or even pretty much staying out of these protests completely, seemed to allow December 11 to be a day of rest, relying on the fact that the Parliament had the solemn session marking the death of Romania’s former king scheduled then, with the Chamber of Deputies’ next attempt to approve the changes scheduled for the following day, when a daytime protest at the Parliament was planned. However, the ruling coalition decided to change the schedule, voting on those changes right after the solemn session, the hastily modified regulations preventing the opposition from delaying the vote once again, despite trying other methods. As a result, that scheduled Tuesday protest was moved to Monday and there was no day of rest.

Protests, not exceeding a few hundred participants at the peak, continued every evening after that, mainly at the Parliament, across the road from the Chamber of Deputies entrance. One exception was December 19, when an event was created for a protest at the Senate entrance as well, since the laws had moved to the Senate, which was to give the final vote, yet the Senate’s session ended in the afternoon and all members of the Parliament moved to a joint session in the Chamber of Deputies, so the planned protest wasn’t split for long. Another exception, however, still continues, and I’m referring to the silent protest in front of PSD’s headquarters, started on December 13 and inspired by the similar protest started on December 11 in Sibiu, a small number of people taking turns to simply stand watch, the protest also using the “we see you” slogan as a name.

In terms of other organizations staging protests supported by the known activists or formally supporting these protests themselves, I’ll mention that unions organized a protest on December 12, some known activists and groups openly supporting them and some, or at least one of the few that I actually follow, actually attending and feeling very much at ease, unlike previous times when known activists had been kicked out of union protests for education or healthcare, for example. Next, on December 14, several dozen groups and organizations signed an open letter describing the situation and asking for support from European institutions and other foreign allies. Then, on December 18, hundreds of judges and prosecutors held a silent protest on the steps of the Palace of Justice, similar protests taking place in other cities that day. In addition, student organizations formally announced joining the ongoing protests on December 19, and this was followed the next day by law students staging a silent protest as well.

As for December 17, the day actually started with a flash mob, hundreds of people answering the call to start gathering in Victory Square at 3 PM and, from 3:30 PM, stand silently, with their eyes and mouths covered by black bands, despite the rain. After that, from 5 PM, the main protest started, a march being scheduled to start at 6 PM but that only happening at 7:15 PM, the numbers being sufficient to simply do so despite the gendarmes having refused both proposed routes. There were some tense moments at first, images showing a couple of protesters being handled roughly and even kicked by gendarmes as they tried to stop us from marching, but they quickly gave up on that attempt and, after quite a number of them rushed to the front of the column and held it back for a few moments longer in order to allow more of the other participants to catch up, things were largely calm until we reached the Parliament, around or maybe a little over one hour later, when the situation got somewhat tense again because the gendarmes stopped the protesters at the corner, blocking the march from reaching the Chamber of Deputies entrance.
Thousands of people took part in the march, known activists eventually seeming to agree on around 5000, though I saw a few higher estimates as well, despite the fact that all of this took place under constant precipitation that turned from rain to sleet to this winter’s first snow and back again. This is also why I didn’t check the time to know when various points along the route were reached and didn’t even write down the exact moment when the Parliament was reached, but I did still take some pictures and can say that the march turned silent while passing in front of the Royal Palace. Can’t say much about what happened at the Parliament, on the other hand, since I left soon after we were stopped there, first having a quick look at the Christmas fair in Constitution square and just passing by the area again as I was leaving, around or maybe a little after 9 PM, to see a much reduced number of protesters surrounded by gendarmes, who were gradually pushing them back to the sidewalk. I see reports of further tensions as a result of that, but eventually the protest ended with no further significant incidents, at least as far as I’m aware.