As a political crisis unfolds, a great many people feel obliged to say and write a great many things. Some of these scribblings and utterances are useful and enlightening while many simply serve to thicken the fog. Let’s see if we can find some clarity concerning the current fraught situation in Romania

Political parties can come into being for a number of reasons. They can arise from a cogent set of ideas, an ideology, that appeals to a group of people who join together to promote them. They can originate as an almost natural recognition of shared cultural meaning, such as nationalism or social class solidarity that brings large numbers of individuals together to represent their interests and aspirations in the face of external domination. They can be created by dominant actors in a new polity simply to provide a vehicle for the political representation and defense of their commercial interests, such as Putin’s United Russia party.

Unfortunately the third case is what Romania has at the moment, resulting in the manipulation of the constitution and government in the interests of a very small business and therefore political elite. The dynamics of such a party system are easily identified through the total absence of ideology or public policy promotion in the adversarial arena. The argument is always about taking and holding power. The motivation is always obscured by lies, sometimes to the most absurd extent. And the methodology is always personal attack because only personal interest is at stake.

In all cases a political party is a conspiracy as it involves a number of people working together to persuade or force the rest of the population to do what they want, for whatever reason. Lenin and other Bolsheviks conspired with the German Imperial Foreign Ministry to get on a train to St Petersburg in 1917 to foment revolution and undermine Tsarist Russia’s war effort. Alexander Dubcek conspired with others to introduce ‘Socialism with a Human Face’ in Czechoslovakia in 1968. Gordon Brown conspired with his trusted lieutenants to harass Tony Blair out of 10 Downing Street. And PNL, PSD and PDL comprise conspiracies of people competing with each other to control the assets of the country. It’s not rocket science and it certainly isn’t revolutionary.

In this situation, where the motivation for political action is purely venal, everything within what would be regarded as a healthy political system suffers. The credibility of public offices such as the Presidency, the Prime Ministership and even the Headship of the national tax authority. Core state institutions, like the universities, the legal system and the constitution itself, are threatened and lose their independence and defining importance. Relationships with friends and allies become distorted and break down. Inward investment collapses because sustainable business needs the kind of stability that unadulterated self-interest among politicians in government simply cannot provide.

In politics things do not happen by chance or happy accident, every action creates a number of reactions that can run out of control and produce unexpected consequences. Mr Ponta and Mr Antonescu, on behalf of their patrons’, have conspired to remove the main threat, Mr Basescu, to their material interests. They have also created an environment in which their patrons may be able to continue to do business as they follow the IMF’s instructions to sell off as many state assets as possible in the near future. However they have destroyed Romania’s reputation in the world and reduced the peoples’ faith in the constitution to rubble. They have no vision or plan for the country. Nor do they have any way of dealing with the many growing economic and social problems faced by the country. They simply hold power, smirking at the world’s media like two naughty school boys.

I have to mention one specific act that has received a lot of attention as the drama has unfolded. I cannot think of any party in government, with a clear majority, that would allow the Presidency of either house in the legislature to be held by members of the minority opposition party. It doesn’t make sense, even if Mr Ponta’s chosen method of dismissing the two PDL incumbents was rather hysterical.

In the United States when the President represents a different party from that which dominates Congress, there is political warfare that all but disables the government of the country. This can include endless attempts to investigate the President with the intention of impeaching him, as in the case of Bill Clinton. If it could be proved, by Conservative Republicans, that President Obama was not a US citizen when he stood for office they would be impeaching him right now. And let’s not forget that such as Rush Limbaugh have questioned the authenticity of Obama’s educational qualifications and CV.

What is happening in Romania is not that unusual where an active Head of State and the government represent different interests.

In some way, many people believe that the European Union will save Romania and force the USL government to reverse the attacks of the rule of law. However, let us not forget that Mr Barosso recently conspired with others to install the Lisbon Treaty even though it had effectively been rejected by a number of countries, to appoint unelected governments on a number of countries in order to force through fiscal policies favored by Germany and the Central Bank, to exceed his powers as President of the European to threaten a member country’s elected government with legal action unless it changed its (unreasonable) constitutional attack.

Mr Barosso is not elected in any way that might be recognized by the people of Romania. The EU is decidedly not a democratic organization and its role of policemen in the case of Romania’s current political crisis lacks credibility. And, of course, neither Mr Ponta nor Mr Antonescu holds a popular mandate for their current positions. What we have is one dysfunctional gang of conspirators telling another gang of dysfunctional conspirators what to do. That is not a sustainable way forward.

Mr Ponta has agreed to meet all of Mr Barosso’s 11 demands in order to pull Romania back from the collapse of Romania’s relationship with the EU. Does anyone believe that he will do so? Some people don’t see why he should.

By Ronnie Smith, Guest Writer 

Ronnie Smith is Scottish and now lives in Romania, working as a professional training business consultant and communication coach. He is also a teacher of political science, a political and social commentator and a writer of fiction. The views expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Romania Insider.com.