The Romanian right closes ranks

The biggest centre-right parties in Romania are considering forming a larger party able to face the Social Democratic Party

Ştefan Stoica, 29.05.2014, 12:55

The National Liberal Party and the Liberal Democratic Party, the second and third biggest parties in Romania as shown by the recent European elections last Sunday, have decided to build what they describe as a solid political project. This would translate into the creation of a large centre-right party able to oppose the growing dominance of the Social Democratic Party, which comfortably won Sunday’s European elections together with its junior partners in the ruling coalition and which stands good chances of also winning the presidential elections in November.

In the short run, the goal of the Liberals and the Liberal Democrats is to choose a sole candidate for these elections. Their alliance will become effective immediately, both in Parliament and at local level. A possible merger of the two parties is a difficult process, requiring a lot of time, as pointed out by the Liberals’ interim leader, Crin Antonescu:

“A merger needs time. We will see whether we will be able to achieve it before or after the elections. What is clear is that, even in the absence of a legal alliance, we will act as two very close political allies and start working closely on a major and long-lasting political project.”

The collaboration of the two parties in Parliament and at local level will start immediately, said the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, Vasile Blaga:

“Our parliamentary groups in the two chambers of Parliament and our local branches will start working together to create a majority and build a strong centre-right party in Romania as soon as possible.”

Faced with these latest developments, Romanian voters have a feeling of déjà vu. More than ten years ago, the National Liberal Party and the Liberal Democratic Party, at the time only called the Democratic Party, were building the Justice and Truth Alliance, seen as the only alternative to the increasingly megalomaniac and authoritarian Social Democratic Party. The alliance did not last long, however, with president Traian Basescu playing a major role in its break-up. Since then, the Romanian political scene has seen further transformations.

The Liberals joined forces with the Social Democrats against Traian Basescu and the Liberal Democrats, but also broke up eventually. In the meantime, president Basescu also distanced himself from the Liberal Democrats. The possibility of the Liberals and the Liberal Democrats merging into a single party has been met with reservations, despite the two parties’ clear ideological similarities. These reservations are based not only on a long history of betrayal and ideological desertion, but also the fact their recent collaboration is an overt attempt to isolate the pro-presidential People’s Movement Party, which has done relatively well in its first election test, the European elections.