The Profiteers of Fear?

Andrei Țăranu The Profiteers of Fear? Right-wing Populism and the COVID-19 Crisis in Europe Romania FRIEDRICH-EBERT-STIFTUNG Europe needs social democracy! Why do we really want Europe? Can we demonstrate to European citizens the opportunities offered by social politics and a strong social democracy in Europe? This is the aim of the new Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung project »Politics for Europe«. It shows that European integration can be done in a democratic, economic and socially balanced way and with a reliable foreign policy. The following issues will be particularly important: – Democratic Europe – Social and ecological transformation – Economic and social policy in Europe – Foreign and security policy in Europe We focus on these issues in our events and publications. We provide impetus and offer advice to decision-makers from politics and trade unions. Our aim is to drive the debate on the future of Europe forward and to develop specific proposals to shape central policy areas. With this publication series we want to engage you in the debate on the »Politics for Europe«! About this publication The emergence of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) party on the scene in Romanian parliamentary elections in December 2020 took everyone by surprise. Having developed up until then below the radar of public attention, the AUR was formed by banding together several currents (conservative, nationalist, traditional religious, etc.) under the unifying umbrella of a radically nationalist political vision. The outbreak of the pandemic and the behaviour of the mainstream parties in Romania presented a unique opportunity for this party. With its extremely aggres- sive political activities, a conservative revisionist agenda and a nationalist populist rhetoric based on negationism and post-truth, the AUR is raising concerns about a possible political regression in Romania. About the author Dr. Andrei Țăranu is a professor on the Faculty of Political Sciences at the National School for Political and Administrative Studies (SNSPA) Bucharest and associate professor at University Federico II Naples, Department of Political Science. His main area of interest is political doctrines and ideologies, especially in connection with the phenomenon of populism and anti-liberal parties. Responsible for this publication within the FES Dr Philipp Fink, head of FES in the Nordic Countries Dr Thomas Manz, head of FES in France Dr Tobias Mörschel, head of FES in Italy Further information on the project can be found here: fes.de/c19rex 1 The Profiteers of Fear? Right-wing Populism and the COVID-19 Crisis in Europe Romania Last spring, when the Coronavirus pandemic hit, Romania the election campaign being put on ice and local and gener- was already embroiled in intense political turmoil. A few al elections postponed for the time being. For a short time months earlier (November 2019), the social democrat PSD television and radio stations seemed to be paralysed, at a loss government had fallen by a motion of censure brought by on how to make the transition from an election campaign an extremely unlikely majority consisting of a broad coalition logic to a medical emergency which the Romanian political of political forces outside the PSD. A minority government arena had largely ignored up until that point. In a brief span lead by the conservative liberal National Liberal Party (PNL) of time, however, media institutions shifted gears and moved ascended to power with the intention of bringing about ear- the spotlight to doctors and scientists. ly elections, which they then hoped to win. In March 2020, everything looked like all the political forces in the arena had Romanian political parties seemed to find this transition a aligned themselves so that Romania would experience early much more formidable challenge. The PNL, the ruling party, elections for the first time since 1989. The liberal minority saw itself forced to abandon its plans to bring about early government of Ludovic Orban had also been turned out of parliamentary elections and instead institute urgent meas- office by a motion of no confidence, after which the Presi- ures to cushion the impact of the pandemic on the Romani- dent had designated a Prime Minister Candidate, whose an health system, which had already been suffering from a sole mission was for his part to also fail a vote of confidence chronic lack of resources and underfunding for many years, in Parliament and thus, in line with the Romanian Constitu- coupled with shortages of medical equipment and human tion, open the way for early elections to be organised within resources, which virtually overnight had become of critical a period of 45 days. importance. In order to avoid overburdening hospitals and gain time in the fight against the pandemic, the authorities Thus, when the pandemic was in its beginnings, Romania opted to impose a very harsh lockdown regime, backed up was already feverishly being driven by an electoral campaign by very high fines for anyone who violated the measures logic, with all the parties jockeying for position and seeking taken. The other parliamentary parties officially (PMP) or un- to mobilise their electoral base and find ways to build their officially (USR-PLUS) supporting the conservative liberal gov- political platforms so as to obtain the greatest possible sup- ernment also affirmed their support for the government’s port from the electorate. The various narratives – either those efforts. aimed at forcing early elections (spearheaded by the PNL) and those of its official allies (e.g. the PMP) or those of the For their part, the Social Democrats in the PSD hesitated at unofficial allies of the government (USR-PLUS), or parties in first, flirting with the path of denying the seriousness of the the coalition that had held the reins of power until the au- new COVID-19 virus and opposing the restrictions imposed tumn of 2019 (PSD, ALDE) – had in common a more or less by the government but, on the other hand, at the same time populist critique of political and socio-economic realities in seeing an urgent need to bring the party closer to the lines Romania and were bent on demonising their opponents ad of other European Social Democratic parties and to regain nauseam. Romania thus entered the pandemic completely the trust and confidence of its European partners in the unprepared, totally distracted from the need to take meas- wake of the Liviu Dragnea era, a period in which the party ures in the face of the upcoming medical, economic and so- became infatuated with various conspiracy theories and cial emergencies and upheavals that were already gathering even seduced by a Euro-sceptical narrative1. In the end, the force everywhere in Europe and the rest of the world. PSD decided to abandon its stance of denial and to posture as a party guided by the expertise of medical specialists. The AN ABRUPT CONFRONTATION WITH THE PANDEMIC 1 G4media: Mircea Draghici, trezorierul PSD, face teoria conspira t,iei pe Facebook: Vor sa-l dea jos pe Dragnea pentru ca minorita t,ile When a state of emergency was finally proclaimed (16 March sexuale ”sa aiba acces la copii” (19 September 2018) https://www. g4media.ro/mircea-draghici-trezorierul-psd-face-teoria-conspiratiei- 2020), underscoring the fact that the pandemic had arrived pe-facebook-vor-sa-l-dea-jos-pe-dragnea-pentru-ca-minoritatile- in Romania as well, political life suddenly came to a halt, with sexuale-sa-aiba-acces-la-copii.html [22 February 2021] FRIEDRICH-EBERT-STIFTUNG – POLITICS FOR EUROPE 2 issue of the pandemic and the proper response to it thus of the pandemic, which the severity of the measures taken became the key topic of debate between the mainstream by the government was based on, the closure of many small parties, with the various political actors not questioning the businesses, especially in the fields of catering and transport, adoption of lockdown measures per se – these had already restrictions on gatherings and movement, mandatory wear- largely been accepted – but rather their degree of severity. ing of masks and physical distancing, creating a vacuum that In fact, the political melee was even put on the backburner could be exploited by new political forces which had been for a brief period, with a new PNL government being voted more or less obscure before the outbreak of the pandemic. into power by parliament in an urgent session, including with the votes of the Social Democrats2. A NEW POLITICAL PARTY FLYING BELOW One of the reasons why the government as well as the op- THE RADAR position were in doubt as to whether or not to tighten measures related to the impact of the state of emergency on the Against this background, the performance in the December economy. From the very beginning, the government stated 2020 parliamentary elections by the Alliance for the Union that it would prop up the economy by taking interventionist of Romanians (AUR) party took everyone by surprise. All the measures in specific branches and fields of the economy more so as in local elections held just two months before, in (HORECA, transportation, agriculture, etc.). Other areas, such September 2020, the party had not attracted any attention as art and culture (the performing arts, visual arts, etc.) or whatsoever, with its most prominent candidates barely gar- the retail sector (aside from food or pharmaceuticals) have nering 1% of votes. thus far been completely left up to their own, with no pro- jects or measures to support these areas in sight. In fact, the party did not play any important role in the Ro- manian political arena before the pandemic. One of its two At the beginning of the state of emergency, the Romanian co-presidents, George Simion, although he had previously labour market contracted by more than one million jobs3; received a modest degree of public attention, had only man- only recovering less than half of these by the end of the aged to obtain a negligible share of 1.21% of the vote in the year4.

Load more