The great loser of the local elections is certainly the PN?CD. The Christian Democratic leaders have found various explanations, among which the leading one are the scandals around FNI and BCR, as well as the Liberals’ departure from the Democratic Convention. Is it possible that a last-moment scandal could destroy the PN?CD electorally? Did the PNL steal away from their voters, or were they disappointed so badly by the two parties’ break-up that they voted for someone else? Aside from that, was the PN?CD doing all that well?
In reality, the two issues some Christian Democrats pointed out struck an already weakened PN?CD. Voters’ distrust in its capacity, and therefore in the capacity of the Convention which it dominates, has been breeding for quite a while. In fact, PN?CD’s results are normal and expectable considering that, in four years, PN?CD managed to make a full 180-degree image turn.
On one hand, from the united party that was able to save its integrity in the fire of opposition to the neo-communist power, PN?CD now looks back with envy at the political rags it lost along the four years of rule. It had two prime ministers; both set up their own parties. An uneasy operation.
Interminable fighting, intrigues, camps, below-belt strikes – in the four years, PN?CD has produced a genuine soap opera, with daily episodes, sometimes several times a day. Of course, the two parties that emanated from PN?CD – ANCD and PPDR – have had minor results, but the same cannot be said of the departure of the people into those parties. A whole set of local organisations were simply devastated. Who is going to run your campaign, when, months before the vote, you only have a handful of people in Brasov, themselves from the second echelon?
Beyond the impact on things in the territory, the scandals caused an image problem. Who hasn’t grown bored with the bombardment of news about brawls between Christian Democrats? Who wasn’t discouraged when learning about the intrigues within the party? Who wasn’t appalled to see them fight each other instead of fighting their opponents?
PN?CD has consumed its energy in internal battles instead of putting up at least two or three competent people, good politicians, who would stand the temptations once they got a taste of power. And with the way the party leadership looks now, it is hard to believe any new Christian Democratic leader will stand up in the time to come, for fear of being chewed off.
And the radical image changes go further. From a party where morality was the key word, especially in memory of the communist prisons, PN?CD now fills the prisons with people it promoted itself into high office. The picture of Marin Lutu, former sector 4 mayor, handcuffed, made the front pages, only to be followed by former CEC president Camenco Petrovici, in a scandal that may be the final blow for a weak PN?CD. The ensuing political debate, including the electoral confrontation in the autumn, will probably tend to transform the PN?CD into the scapegoat of the FNI scandal. The reason is obvious: CEC, through Camenco Petrovici, was illegally involved in a venture that left 300,000 people at a loss.
Another example is Viorel Lis. Although he renounced membership in the party, his criminal records date back to the time when he was the CDR mayor in Bucharest. And now, commotion is increasing around the investigation of former Agriculture minister Dinu Gavrilescu and his successor, Ioan Muresan. Where will everything stop? And how many PDSR people whose shady dealings were highlighted in the press before 1996 ended up in jail?
Besides the fact that it promoted these people, PN?CD was unable to take precautionary measures in time. With Lutu, they stuck up to the last moment. With Petrovici, they nonchalantly said he had been discarded as a party member a few days prior to the arrest, but they had forgotten to notify the press. Now, Ioan Muresan says Petrovici never was a Christian Democrat to begin with. And they had just kicked him out of the party! Don’t they realise how ridiculous they are?
Therefore, the PN?CD failure is the fruit it must reap after four years of amateurish politics. It is the result of shortcomings that have been mentioned before: faulty political management and lack of perspective. And after making so many mistakes out of the same reasons, the Christian Democrats still did nothing to make things up, either out of stupidity, recklessness, or immense arrogance. Perhaps the Liberals stood to win when they broke up with PN?CD, thus attracting some of the electorate disappointed with the latter’s performance. At that pace, all those shortcomings may not fall on our shoulders, because the PN?CD is going to be a former Parliamentary party.