Romania politics: Tug-of-war between two powerful men

For the past two years, politics in Romania — which takes over the EU’s rotating presidency on January 1 — has effectively been a tug-of-war between the country’s two most powerful men. The two protagonists are centre-right president Klaus Iohannis and Liviu Dragnea, head of the Social Democratic PSD party, who is prime minister in all but name. It was Dragnea’s deep-seated ambition to become prime minister after his PSD party won the general election at the end of 2016.

But the 56-year-old was prevented from doing so because of a previous suspended jail sentence for electoral fraud.

But even if he has had to content himself with only being president of the chamber of deputies, it is effectively Dragnea who pulls the strings of power in Romania. He toppled two prime ministers in just seven months, before nominating Viorica Dancila to the post in January 2017. Her detractors described her as a “perfect puppet”.

Over the past two years, the slim, moustachioed leader of the PSD, the successor party to the communists, has courted voters largely in the poor and rural areas of the country with generous political promises. But he has also focused on relaxing the criminal laws to curtail the activities of country’s anti-corruption agency.

European officials also accuse him of undermining a much-needed anti-corruption drive in what is considered one of the bloc’s most graft-prone states. Dragnea has repeatedly attacked the EU, which he accuses of “interfering” in Romania’s affairs.

In the other corner is Klaus Iohannis, who surprisingly beat off a PSD favourite to be elected president in 2014.

Iohannis has, from the very beginning, been forced to share power with the left, whom he accuses of undermining the rule of law.

Of imposing physical build, the 59-year-old likes to project an image of rigour and seriousness. He has swapped the quiet life of a mayor in the central town of Sibiu for “grand politics”.

For some observers, that took him some time to master. Once considered even by some of his supporters to be too reticent in his resistance to Dragnea’s policies, he has since come out of his shell to oppose a range of different government initiatives.

In January 2017, he did not hesitate to join crowds of demonstrators protesting against the ruling PSD party’s initial attempts to ease criminal legislation.

Since then, he has been engaged in trench warfare with the PSD, filing lawsuits with the constitutional court and rejecting the government’s nominations for ministers and prosecutors. — AFP

Mihaela Rodina