Basescu Returns to Office for Now
As it was entirely expected by anyone who thought things through and was neither blinded by nor forced into USL’s rhetoric, our Constitutional Court ruled that the referendum was invalid, so Traian Basescu can return to office. Obviously, since four judges were already determined to vote this way and there was no way for the data to change sufficiently to make a difference, it’d have been completely impossible for the three who were determined to say that it was valid to persuade at least one of them, on top of the two who weren’t so set on one position or the other, to change their stance and therefore obtain the required two thirds majority, so this decision could have been reached immediately after the referendum as well, sparing us all a lot of trouble.
Of course, everybody knew what was going to happen, even if USL kept trying to make it seem that they firmly believed that the decision will be in their favor, but the delay served its purpose for both sides. For Traian Basescu and PDL, and even for the Constitutional Court’s judges, it was to give the people some time to cool off and therefore avoid a harsher internal backlash, while for USL it was to increase the support they enjoy internally while also attempting to respond to the international backlash while they could more easily get away with the fact that their primary focus is in fact this war for power and not actually governing the country properly.
Still, I guess it’s better late than never and, since the leaders of USL have stated that they will abide by the Court’s ruling, at least this particular issue is settled for the moment. Based on the current information, the Parliament should convene on Friday to take act of the ruling and send it to be published, after which interim president Crin Antonescu will step down, likely returning to his office as president of the Senate, Traian Basescu will be reinstated and, obviously, the war will continue. After all, USL’s leaders have also ruled out cohabiting with Basescu in the statements they made today, saying time and time again that he was in fact impeached by the people and they will continue to fight until he will be removed from office and his regime will be completely annihilated and replaced with their own, Crin Antonescu even specifically stating that another impeachment procedure may well be started if Basescu will offer them any opportunity to do so.
As for what happens next… I won’t even dare say that we should wait for the dust to settle, because it won’t settle. Through a ruling that was admittedly immoral, but legal and absolutely necessary, the Constitutional Court has stopped the greater evil from completely taking over the country, but that still leaves us with two major problems: The first is that, while they failed in obtaining the presidency as well for the time being, USL is still left with the Government, the Parliament and most mayors and local council members, and they won’t relent until they’ll be in full control. The second, and likely worse, one is that the the only thing that may still stand in the way of USL and Crin Antonescu is the only marginally lesser evil of PDL and Traian Basescu, any people or groups who’d actually have the country’s and the people’s interests at heart and truly good ideas in mind being doomed to constantly be squashed underfoot by these warring behemoths.
