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Part I1: "Romanian Elections: November 3, 1996 The Day "God Gave a Brain to the Romanian People"

BUDAPEST, Hungary December 1996

By Christopher E Ball INTRODUCTION

The second half of our stay for the Romanian elections was in Nagyenyed (Auid), where my friend Sindor Mezei lives. In this section I hope to provide the reader with a better feel of the issues and lives of the people at the local level. GRANDFATHER

During my first year in Budap- est, Sndor and became extremely good friends. Soon after, however, his grandfather became ill and Sndor moved home to help the : Szindor's sister, Grandfa- ther, and Grandmother Sindor's parents divorced when he was still a child and they left him to be raised by his grandparents. The father left Ceasescu's for Sweden and the mother moved to her hometown in the mountainous Szekler regions of . The mother visits regularly, but (until the changes in 1989) the father was able to send only goods and money on occasion to help the family.

Grandfather is :well known in the region for the wine he made and for being an exceptionally upright From left to right: Sdndor Mezei, and good man, a former teacher, Chris Ball McAdams

1. Please note that the other American, Daniel McAdams, was with me in Nagyenyed during the period covered by this report. 2. Again, throughout this report give first the town in Hungarian, then the Romanian name in parenthesis. This warrants footnoting because in future reports when write about trips to Romania where mostly deal with ethnic , will probably reverse the since my memory of the place will then be Romanian name first, then Hungarian. Those wishing to locate these cities on a map ought to look for the Romanian city name. 3. In order to avoid confusion, rather than use the family members' real , simply refer to them as Grandfather and Grandmother, which is how everyone refers to them in Hungarian (Nagyapa s Nagymama) anyway. and for frequently helping those in need (often dissidents doctor and a nurse returned to attend to the patient who in the Nagyenyed prison) throughout the Communist re- had been screaming in pain the whole time. No one in girne. After I first met Sindor I had heard of Grandfa- the ICU slept for those few hours. ther from friends and various acquaintances, but never had the chance to meet him in person. I left the following day. Grandfather passed away sometime during my train trip home. While I happened to be visiting in August 1995, Grandfather became sick with what were thought to be "BETHLEN, A BORTON, IS BOR" minor stomach problems. For a week or so he stayed home in bed, hoping to avoid the hospital where he was After Grandfather died, Sndor moved home with- sure he would die. Finally, he conceded that his illness, out finishing his university course in Budapest. We rarely was much worse, and agreed to go to the hospital. met after this. It is therefore always a treat to me when I am able to visit Sandor and Grandmother. The sister has As the doctor (a family friend) led him off to the hos- now moved off to Germany. pital he stopped in the kitchen to welcome me into his home. He stood upright to shake my hand, smiling gen- Sndor has always managed to stay on top of things tly with his eyes. His pallid skin and sunken cheeks be- in Nagyenyed. He is well treated, due in part to trayed his feigned strength, however, revealing just how Grandfather's lingering reputation but also because of weak he had become. He turned around, now slouching the wine the family has always madem and Sndor con- over in pain, and was helped out of the room by Sndor tinues to make. Life in Nagyenyed, it seems, has its own and the doctor. That was the first and last time I had the logic. Sndor once commented: "Grandfather always told chance to meet Grandfather. me that in Nagyenyed the three B's were all-important: Bethlen, a B6rtn, ds Bor." This refers to Transylvanian At Sindor's request I went to see the hospital and In- Prince Gabor Bethlen, the Nagyenyed prison (b6rt6n, in tensive Care Unit (ICU) where Grandfather was kept. Be- Hungarian) and wine (bor, in Hungarian). Throughout cause it is beyond the scope of this report, I won't linger Nagyenyed's history, these three things have played an on the horrible state of Romanian hospitals. Neverthe- important role, the last two especially under Commu- less, feel that a few comments are required, nism. Sndor always kept them in mind and they seemed to have served him well. To begin with, the place reminded me of the hospital in Alexander Solzenitzin's "Cancer Ward," and was just The first B, Prince Gibor Bethlen, is often considered as depressing. It was reasonably clean, though a new paint the greatest Transylvanian Prince. He was Prince from job was sorely needed. It was overcrowded and the whole 1613 to 1629, but during that time managed to work well time I was there Sindor could not get any of the nurses to with the Turkish occupiers of Hungar who also exerted attend to Grandfather in the ICU. The nurses' break room, strong control over many of the decisions of the which I passed on my way in, was full of nurses, how- Transylvanian leaders. Although they were technically ever, sitting and smoking cigarettes over coffee and gos- independent, Transylvanian rulers were indirectly sub- sip. Smoke floated gently from the break room, into the servient to the Ottoman Empire. In other fields, like hall and open rooms of patients. I guess they were just too foreign policy, Transylvania was under the direct control busy to look after patients. of the Ottomans. For a Transylvanian Prince this meant a difficult juggling act between domestic and foreign af- The ICU itself was a small room with drab-colored fairs. Bethlen not only managed relations with the Otto- walls and chipped paint. There were two windows on mans well, but was also popular enough to be elected the far wall, both yellow in color and spotted with flies. King of Hungary for a short period (1620-1621). For In this one room were five different patients, none of them Nagyenyed, however, he is especially important because being tended to. It was dimly lit and the only medical the town houses the well-known Gibor Bethlen College equipment present had been rolled in from other wards. (founded 1662) where many of Transylvania's finest Hun- garian and Romanian intellectuals, writers, poets and When I was there it was fairly quiet and I dared not other cultural leaders studied. It is still operating and re- enter the room out of respect for the patients. Sndor spected today. pointed out some of the patients and told me of the hor- rors of the night. Many of them, left unattended, just The second B, the Nagyenyed prison, is one of moaned in pain. One in particular began to scream, Romania's larger prisons and was used to house many though. It seems his loosely bandaged stomach wound dissidents during Communism. After WWII, many of the had burst open, spurting blood onto the wall and floor former members of Romania's Fascist group, the Iron near his bed. The doctor arrived, told the patient to hold Guard, were placed in this prison and it quickly became the wound clOsed with his hands and went off one of the maximum-security prisons in Communist Ro- nonchalantly to finish his rounds. Some time later the mania. It also became famous internationally during this

4. Deletant, Dennis. Ceausescu and the Securitate: Coercion and Dissent in Romania, 1965-1989. Hurst and Co. London. 1995. p.28. 2 CPB-6 period for testing drugs on prisoners? There spoke with several workers and volunteers. They all had similar stories to tell. The last B, the wine, an admittedly brighter topic, also grew in importance under Communism. Because a Com- Feh6r (Alba) county, where Nagyenyed is situated, is munist economy is planned and does not rely on sup- largely ethnic Romanian and only 16 percent Hungar- ply/ demand for the allocation of goods, informal bar- ian. As a result, there are few RMDSZ offices and each tering usually occurs on large scale to compensate. Thus, must serve a large region. Prior to elections, the office if your father or, in Sindor's case, Grandfather makes a workers and volunteers have to visit every single Hun- luxury good like wine you are better equipped to avoid garian home in their region and explain to the locals how problems with police, bosses at work teachers, etc. Sndor to vote. Most are simple peasants, which means they will has thousands of stories about how he supplied his su- gladly vote for the RMDSZ but may not fully understand periors with wine in exchange for better working condi- how to. This takes some explaining. tions and even a promotion during his mandatory mili- tary service. There are several different political parties in Roma- nia. Each party has its own symbol (like the elephant and The economy in Romania has not improved in many donkey in the United States) and this is actually where ways, although the central planners are gone. This means the confusion begins. The RMDSZ symbol is a tulip (a bartering still occurs and wine as a tradable good has traditionally Hungarian symbol). The workers and vol- remained a valuable commodity for Sndor and his fam- unteers literally had to take sample ballots to each home ily. Today, however, one difference does exist: it is pos- and help the peasants identify the tulip on Parliamen- sible for him to sell his wine as well thereby supplement- tary and Presidential sample ballots. They would then ing his family's meager income. have the person practice on a sample and, if correctly done, leave it with the family as an example. After all ELECTION PREPARATIONS this, they had to make the rounds once again a few weeks later for those who inevitably lost their samples or had I visited the local office of the Democratic Alli- for whatever reason become confused since the first visit. ance of Hungarians in Romania (RMDSZ, for the Hungarian ) where Sandor now works. "Things are a lot better this year, though," one volun-

RMDSZ leaflet reads: "Your vote also counts!"

5. Ibid. p. 43. Note: This practice seems only to have lasted a few years during the early years of the Communist regime. It appears to have ceased after coming under heavy criticism by the U.N. 6. Goods under such a system are dictated from the central planning board and prices are only set later for accounting purposes. Prices are completely arbitrary under such a system. 7. It will be recalled from Part One of this report that the RMDSZ is the political party of the Hungarians in Romania. Institute of Current World Affairs CONTRACT CU ROMANIA

Cuno.atern pvillemele, temerlle i sperant,ele Dumneavoastr, ele sunt i ale noastre. Nu peste muir timp, la alegerile generale, puterea va sta in m&inile Dumneavoastr. Vei vota. Trebuie sdi o faoe in cuncrtin,Ui de auzA. Dacl o vel alege q;i va veni la putere, Convenlta Democaticti din Romania va Indepllni ou Mriotee unntoafele obligafii, pe care, i le asum cu fermitate, in baza unor studil realiste, responsablle ql Indelungate:

CDR's Contract with Romainia. Note the key, which is the CDR's political symbol teer explained to me. "Last election year the RMDSZ didn't run a Presidential candidate. We told our voters The RMDSZ office was not the only one to have such to put a stamp on the tulip for the Parliamentary elec- basic "technical" problems. The office of the Democratic tions and on the key for the Presidential elections. A lot Convention of Romania (CDR) had the same difficulties. of them couldn't remember it, got confused and later con- The head of the CDR in Nagyenyed had been elected fessed that they just put the stamp on the key since it was Mayor during local elections last summer. He was a on both ballots. Others put stamps on both the tulip and young guy with a friendly face and a good sense of hu- the key for the Parliamentary elections, thus invalidating mor. He and Sandor (now also serving as city councilor), their ballot. had worked together in local affairs and become friends to the limited extent an RMDSZ officer and a CDR poli- "This year the RMDSZ ran Gy6rgy Frunda as a presi- tician can become friends. Sindor even expressed regret dential candidate. We know he wouldn't win, but the vot- over this, once saying: "I think he and I would be much ers only had to find the tulip [on both ballots] and didn't closer if there weren't this political barrier between us, have to worry about the rest. Things went much more which we both have to maintain because of our jobs. He's smoothly when I talked with them and think they will a smart guy. He's honest and one of the few local politi- be able to remember it on election day." cians here who understands how to get things done."

Despite all the efforts, on the night before the elec- The Mayor, Horatiu Mihai Josan, told us that the CDR tions peasants came in a thin but constant stream to ask also had to go to each house individually and had en- questions. Through evening gossip sessions so common countered many of the same symbol problems. The CDR, in villages, many of them had managed to confuse them- according to the Mayor, was in a better situation than selves until they could no longer agree where they were the other parties because they had the "Contract with supposed to place the stamp. One woman's ethnic Ro- Romania'," which the voters appreciated and would re- manian neighbors had told several local Hungarians that member on voting day. These "Contracts" were kept fresh they should put the stamp not on the tulip, but on the in the voters' memories because the CDR had taken over symbol designating the extreme-nationalist Greater Ro- many county positions during the local summer elec- manian Party. Knowing this couldn't possibly be true, tions and had implemented localized "Contracts" with but now no longer sure whether the tulip was good ei- each city. ther, the woman came down the RMDSZ office to ask again where they were supposed to put the stamp. 8. The key is the symbol for the Democratic Convention of Romania (CDR). This is the party that won the elections. Generally, their platform best agrees with the values of RMDSZ and thus the RMDSZ always advises its voters to support the CDR candidate when no RMDSZ candidate is available. This is how, consequently, the CDR got the whole RMDSZ vote in the Presidential ruin-off between the CDR Candidate, Emil Constantinescu, and incumbent Ion Iliescu. 9. It will be recalled from Part One that this is openly modeled after the Republican "Contract with America." 4 CPB-6 The Mayor explained the Contracts to us: "We began milan Hearth, the "cultural" ann of the xenophobic Greater by holding a large public meeting where we discussed Romania political party. More interestingly, though, Mr. our plans and explicitly stated the objectives we planned to Fufezan owns the Crown Beer factory. achieve within 100 days. Then, in exactly 100 days, we held another meeting and went through our list of objectives. After a tour through his factory, he sat us down in the We showed the ones we achieved and explained why we conference room to talk and sample a few beers. A large were unable to meet the other objectives. We then talked man with a boyish face, Fufezan sat across from Daniel about what we would do in the next 100 days." and me. Cases of beer occupied the table's center. He be- gan to tell us about the business as he poured the first Sindor later confirmed that the locals had been ex- glasses full. tremely impressed by the local Contract and that the Mayor had met his stated objectives (something rare in Together with 13 friends, Petru began the beer fac- Romania). He said the mayor and his party had earned tory in 1991. Since then Crown Beer had become a re- much respect among the people with the Contracts and gional success, something he attributed to his basic mar- their fulfillment. Assuming the same was true in other keting strategy. He explained: "People like our beer be- CDR-controlled counties, Sndor speculated that it cause it is cheap and good. We priced it below the other should greatly help the CDR in the national elections. beers and have tried to maintain a high quality. No matter how poor people are, they deserve good beer." Simple, but Mayor Josan also explained that the International Re- effective. publican Institute's (IRI) seminars on campaign manage- ment had made a huge difference. According to him, Demand has consistently confirmed that his strategy these seminars played a major role in providing the op- works. Initially Petru and his partners aimed for a small, position parties with the skills required to win local elec- 2,000-to-3,000-hectoliter-capacity factory. After one year, tions in the summer: "Of the seven counties where we however, they expanded to 10,000 hectoliters to meet de- took part in the IRI seminar, six of them became CDR- mand. The following year they expanded to 20,000 and led after local elections," explained the Mayor. Those again to their current 50,000-hectoliter capacity. They are same skills, he felt, would also lead them to victory at considering another expansion this year or the next. the national level. Upon his invitation, we agreed to have .coffee with him the morning after the elections to either Despite this success, Petru was not happy. Because of celebrate or mourn with him. declining wages and growing taxes, arrival at the break- even point has continued to be delayed longer than ex- THE BEER BUSINESS pected. High taxes, however, seemed to be the largest concern for him. He explained: "Now there is a general Finally, S_ndor arranged for us to meet with Petru Danut 55 percent consumption tax on beer and only 50 percent Fufezan, one ofthe town's more active members of the Roma- on wine, which is encouraging our customers to substi-

Petru Danut Fufezan, director of the Crown Beer factod. the picture was taken during our discussion (and sampling) of the beer business. Institute of Current World Affairs 5 Mayor o Nagyened, Horatiu Mihai Josan. Picture taken over morning coffee, the day after elections. tute wine for beer on the margin." Furthermore, he said, that time, with exit polls and a majority of the votes there is a value-added tax (VAT) of 18 percent on beer, a counted, it was clear that the CDR had won the Parlia- 38-percent revenue tax and finally an endof-the-year 10 mentary elections and Constantinescu had done well percent tax on any profit he might have managed to earn. enough in the Presidential race to justify a runoff between All of these taxes have been added since 1991, making it him and Iliescu.1 increasingly harder for him to stay in business and hire the new workers he needs to expand production. The The office was small, but somehow mayoral. The old business environment, except for inflation and some wooden floor was partially covered by a red throw-rug banking laws, has only gotten worse in Romania since and the mayor had a large mahogany desk on the far 1991, according to Petru. "That's why am voting for side of the room. A few pictures lined the walls and the Constantinescu in the elections and not Iliescu. The CDR large window behind his desk kept the room naturally has a much better economic plan," he added. lighted. The mayor was not there when we arrived, but we were shown in and given a coffee for the short wait. This last piece of information seemed to me most in- teresting. I had heard similar stories about taxes and Minutes later, the mayor burst in gaily. Without look- banking problems, but was surprised that he would vote ing our way he crossed the room to his desk exclaiming: for Constantinescu. After learning of his business prob- "We fucked them!" He grabbed his cigarettes, came over lems I suspect many other business people voted for eco- to us, shook our hands and sat down for coffee. nomic reasons as well. Iliescu had always enjoyed strong support from nationalist parties, but the fact that Petru His face was tired and unshaven, but there was a defi- and other supporters like him were voting Iliescu out sug- nite brightness in his eyes. He and the office staff had gests that the benefits of a better business environment been up all night following the election results and cel- outweighed any discriminatory interests they might have ebrating. He shook his head slightly and smiled: "God had against other nationalities. It makes me wonder, gave a brain to the Romanian people. They threw them though: If Iliescu had been reelected, would he have been out!" daring enough to further economic reform without other political-social changes? That question, however, will Interestingly, Mayor Petru commented that the one have to remain a theoretical one. well-established independent TV station, Pro TV, was the only one to broadcast live. The others still used record- THE DAY "GOD GAVE A BRAIN TO THE ings and showed Iliescu in the most positive light pos- ROMANIAN PEOPLE" sible, helping him maintain an image of leadership in the face of defeat. "Most [of the news channels] showed re- The following day we went to the Mayor's office for hearsed images of Iliescu. Only Pro TV was willing to morning coffee and an update on the election results. By show his actual expression when the news came in. His

10. In the end, Constantinescu won the Presidential runoff as well. 6 CPB-6 face reminded me of the expression of disbelief on state-controlled) channels as information sources. Ceausescu's face when he was dragged before the [mili- tary] court [in 1989]." We left the Mayor to his work and wished him well. He had much to do in this new Romania. He looked for- According to the Mayor, two external factors had ward to it all with an eye toward finally putting things made a big difference. The first was the IRI seminars. The back on track in his homeland, so long off course, second was the role Pro TV had played in general. It is partially owned by German investors and run with local On our way out of Romania we stopped in several staff. Throughout the election, it had been the only TV to cities to talk with other politicians and local representa- carry out objective journalism and not simply favor tives. Everywhere the story was the same: excitement, Iliescu the way many of the still-state-owned stations had. disbelief, and more hope in the eyes of Romanians than I Because it is widely considered to be objective, it is also have ever seen. The discussions were now focused on widely watched by all Romanians (both ethnic Hungar- the future and on who would form the new coalition. 1; ians and Romanians). Such a station had not existed at The people were ready for change. Their country had the time of the 1992 elections, leaving only "official" (i.e. dragged its feet long enough. El

HUNGARY

Szonok eOradea .Vaslui

Sino Constant

11. In the end, the three-party coalition, composed of former opposition parties looks like this: CDR (30 % of Parliamentary seats), Social Democratc Union (13 %) and the RMDSZ (6 %). Institute of Current World Affairs Institute of Current World Affairs FOUR WEST WHEELOCK STREET HANOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE 03755

ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED

Institute and their Activities Adam Smith Albion. A former research associate John Harris. A would-be lawyer with an undergradu- the University of Idaho, Randi is building on two years' at the Institute for EastWest Studies at Prague in the ate degree in History from the University of Chicago, experience as a Peace Corps agroforestry extension Czech Republic, Adam is studying and writing about John reverted to international studies after a year of agent in the same region of Guinea where she will be the republics of Central Asia, and their importance internship in the product-liability department of a Chi- living as a Fellowwith her husband, Jeff Fields-- also as actors within and without the former Soviet bloc. cago law firm and took two years of postgraduate the holder of an Idaho Master's in Forest Resources. A Harvard graduate (1988; History), Adam has com- Russian at the University of Washington in Seattle. [sub-SAHARAN AFRICA] pleted the first year of a two-year M Litt. Degree in Based in Moscow during his fellowship, John is study- Russian/East European history and languages at ing and writing about Russia's nascent political par- John B. Robinson.A 1991 Harvard graduate with a Oxford University. [EUROPE/RUSSIA] ties as they begin the difficult transition from identities certificate of proficiency from the Institute of based on the personalities of their leaders to posi- KiSwahili in Zanzibar, John spent two years as Christopher P. Ball. An economist, Chris Ball holds a tions basedon national and international issues, an English teacher in Tanzania. He received a B.A. from the University of Alabama in Huntsville and [EUROPE/RUSSIA] Master's degree in Creative Writing from Brown attended the 1992 International Summer School at University in 1995. He and his wife Delphine, a the London School of E(onomics. He studied Hungarian Marc Michaelson. A program manager for Save the French oceanographer, are spending two years for two years in Budapest while serving as Project Direc- Children in The Gambia, Marc has moved across Af- in Madagascar with their two young sons, Nicolas torforthe Hungarian Atlantic Council. As an Institute rica to the Horn, there to assess nati0n-building in and Rowland, where he will be writing about var- Fellow, he is studying and writing about Hungarian Eritrea and Ethiopia, and (conditions permitting) ied aspects of the island-nation's struggle to sur- minorities in the former Soviet-bloc nations of East availing and unavailing humanitarian efforts in north- vive industrial and natural-resource exploitation and Central Europe. [EUROPE/RUSSIA] ern Somalia and southern Sudan.Wh a B.A. in political and the effects of a rapidly swelling population. science from Tufts, a year of non-degree study at the [sub-SAHARAN AFRICA] William F. Foote. Formerly a financial analyst with London School of Economics and a Master's in Inter- Lehman Brothers' Emerging Markets Group, Willy national Peace Studies from Notre Dame, he de- Teresa C.Yates. A former member of the American Foote is examining the economic substructure of scribes his postgraduate years as "seven years' ex- Civil Liberties Union's nationaltask force onthework- Mexico and the impact of free-market reforms on perience in international development programming place, Teresa is spending two years in South Africa Mexico's people, society and politics. Willy holds a and peace research." [sub-SAHARAN AFRICA] observing and reporting on the efforts of the Man- Bachelor's degree from Yale University (history), a dela government to reform the national land-tenure Master's from the London School of Economics Randi Movich. The current John Miller Musser system. A Vassar graduate with a juris doctor from (Development Economics; Latin America) and stud- Memorial Forest & Society Fellow, Randi is spending the University of Cincinnati College of Law, Teresa ied Basque history in San Sebastian, . He car- two years in Guinea, West Africa, studying and writing had an internship at the Centre for Applied Legal tied out intensive Spanish-language studies in about the ways in which indigenous women useforest Studies in Johannesburg in 1991 and 1992, study- Guatemala in 1990 and then worked as a copy edi- resources for reproductive health.With a B.A. in biology ing the feasibility of including social and economic tor and Reporter for the Buenos Aires Herald from from the University of California at Santa Cruz and a rights in the new South African constitution. [sub- 1990 to 1992. [THE AMERICAS] Master of Science degree in Forest Resources from SAHARAN AFRICA]

Chosen on the basis of character, previous experience and promise, Institute Fellows are young professionals funded to spend a minimum of two years carrying out self-designed programs of study and writing outside the United States. The Fellows are required to report their findings and experiences from the field once a month. They can write on any subject, as formally or informally as they wish. The result is a unique form of reporting, analysis and periodic assessment of international events and issues.

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