The big winners of the referendum

Politically, the winners of the failed referendum on the redefinition of the family as exclusively the marriage between a man and a woman have been the ones who have opposed this initiative from the beginning. These are newcomers to the Romanian political scene, USR and Romania Together (RO +) of Dacian Cioloş, but also the newly established Demos, who took a series of risks:

· They have put in the game their votes in the next two electoral years at a time when it seemed that the overwhelming majority of Romanians would punish any actor who would oppose the revision of the Constitution;

· They have attracted the anathema of the Church and of the other religious orders who supported the revision initiative, the electoral impact of which is significant in any election held in Romania;

· They have been exposed to propaganda channels in the media, who have not hesitated to put the stamp of promoters of homosexual adoption or even of the legalization of zoophilia;

· They risked the intensificatin of internal party rifts, creating a conflict between conservative and progressive camps.

They explained from the outset the consequences of the attempt to redefine the family – the restriction of fundamental rights – but also the real stakes of the initiative: projection of a smoke screen by Liviu Dragnea in order to distract attention from the assault on the independence of the judiciary, and the assembling of rhetorical scaffolding to be used by the same Dragnea as a basis for attack against European leaders who insist on respect for the rule of law and the continuation of the anti-corruption fight in Romania.

Because of the constitutional review initiative, the USR went through an internal scandal of fatal potential. Against the backdrop of the majority’s current position against redefining the family, the founding president of the party, Nicusor Dan, gave up both party leadership and membership.

The party currently run by Dan Barna not only overcame that challenge, but had the capacity to mobilize over 12,000 volunteers at the polling stations as a counterweight to the SDP-ALDE’s abolition, with the complicity of other political forces, of all obstacles against fraud in the electoral process.

In turn, Dacian Ciolos, despite the party’s internal opposition, repeatedly urged a boycott of a „referendum organized by a politician convicted of having stolen another referendum.”

Likewise, the newly-formed Demos party has promoted non-participation in a „discriminatory, populist, useless and costly initiative,” explaining that the Amendment proposed by the Family Coalition is „a tool used by some politicians to gain popularity, and the price we all pay through the deep division of the nation. ”

What the three parties did was make a risky bet, and it shows the courage to assume politically an extremely sensitive theme in which, if one fails, one loses everything, but whose gain cannot be clearly accounted for.

When at the end of the two days of popular consultation, the referendum proved to be a total failure, the positioning of these parties proved to be politically correct. The causes of this epic fail were largely explained by Cristian Pantazi and Dan Tăpălagă, who pointed out the futility of the approach, the artificial theme, and the lack of credibility of the SDP-ALDE leaders and the BOR on the traditional family theme.

In this context, one must also not forget President Klaus Iohannis’ hesitant attitude. He did not get involved in the debate at all, he did not draw attention to the hidden interests behind this move, but he went to vote on Sunday night, an hour and a half before the polls closed, when it was clear that the referendum would fail. He played two hands, with the intention of reconciling goat and cabbage, proving once again his small mindedness as a politician, and the minor register in which he preferred to play the role of president.

Traducerea: Ruxandra Stoicescu