Moderation, the secret to political longevity

It has been ten years since Marko Bela was elected UDMR (Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania) leader. He is actually the oldest politician around in terms of mandate duration, second only to Ion Iliescu.
At the end of this week, Marko is likely to keep his position of Alliance chairman (at least in theory) for another four years, given that he is the only candidate at the UDMR convention. Which convention will tackle the leadership position, as well as the elimination of the honorary chairman position, now held by noisemaker Laszlo Tokes. Bishop Tokes became undesirable for some of the Alliance leaders, after having filed suit against the Hungarian party, a suit eventually won by the Alliance.
Although challenged by the Reform Arm representatives, gathered around honorary chairman Laszlo Tokes, Marko Bela maintains his authority within UDMR. The radicals’ is too weak a voice to bring about any major changes. At the same time, despite the constant opposition of the hardliners and the criticism by those opposing the political agreement with PSD (Social Democrat Party), Marko Bela has managed to find a common language for the other Alliance platforms. In other words, moderation, persistence and balance seem to be the ingredients of the longevity recipe of the UDMR leader.
The polls credit UDMR with 7% of the votes and with limited electoral potential. The party became a key ally for PSD, following the parliamentary elections in 2000. The relationship with the Alliance has given the ruling party a comfortable parliamentary support, allowing it to promote a series of legislative drafts challenged by the opposition parties. The co-operation with UDMR has also resulted in an image gain abroad for PSD, one thing that cannot be neglected considering Romania is trying to adjust to the European values.
Although some (quickly addressed) questions have arisen in the course of time, the relationship between the two parties has turned out to benefit both of them.
UDMR has tried to make the most of it, by periodically bringing up the Hungarians’ requests. Such an example is the Constitution amendment, in the sense of removing the “national state” specification. Although UDMR is fully aware it would not get the support of two thirds of the MPs for this modification, or at least of the PSD allies, the issue is constantly brought up. This is in fact intended for the Hungarians to see and be certain their requests are supported and promoted.
This request usually comes after talks with the ruling party leaders, which allows PSD to dismiss the idea of removing the “national state” specification, sometimes adamantly, much to its voters’ delight.
In other words, the sometimes radical requests of UDMR come with a decent political conduct. The result is perfect – an in-between is always found. As regards the Constitution amendment, UDMR has got a redefinition of the minorities’ status so far and is about to get permission to use the mother tongue in justice.
Another recent issue, which is important to UDMR, is the establishment of the eight euro-regions. Promoter of territorial autonomy, especially in terms of economy, UDMR has welcomed Administration minister Octav Cozmanca’s proposal to establish the eight regions. Even though the Government dropped the project, the matter is not over yet, so that it can be the basis for further PSD-UDMR negotiations.