Statements political leaders have issued lately prove that pragmatism will be the basic principle to shape up the structure of the future Government after year 2000 elections. While in 1996 opposition against forces identified as being tributary to the communist past, and especially against PDSR, represented the main link between factions that decided to rule the country for a new mandate, over the past four years the danger of returning to totalitarianism seems to have faded. Since then, the electorate has changed, becoming increasingly immune to moral speeches and to politics in general.
After the ten years of a transition whose positive results he is looking forward to seeing, the Romanian citizen seems more prone to choosing the solutions which could bring an immediate way out for his daily problems, beyond all differentiation along ideological criteria. Such an approach is not beneficial however from the point of view of democracy and gives free way to authoritarian and radical solutions.
Everything depends on the extent to which political parties will be able to understand Romania's priorities, integration in the EU and NATO, chapters in relation to which our country is, unlike most of its Eastern colleagues, way behind.
PDSR, sure of a victory that will confer it the role of main pillar of the future government, has already started to eye parties that could clean up its image of an anti-reformist and anti-Western party. In a trenchant way, Adrian Nastase estimated at the end of last week that, following general elections, a majority coalition able to isolate his party would be not be formed unless PN?CD, PNL, PD and UDMR make PRM their ally.
The main parties that are included in a future ruling formula beside Ion Iliescu's party are ApR, PNL, but also UDMR, which has lately received numerous signals to join the future Cabinet to be dominated by PDSR.
Ion Iliescu did not make an understatement, either, when he said that "following the shaping of the force balance in the wake of elections", his party would "favour those parties PDSR is closer to from a political point of view," so that it may be able to rule more easily.
To make himself even clearer, he says he is not hostile to dialogue with PNL either, though this party's representatives are treating his party as "their main rival" although PDSR members "make a distinction between them (the Liberals) and PN?CD".
As to the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians, though continuing to tell the public opinion that PDSR is a "anti-minorities" and "anti-Hungarian" party, it does not however rule out from the start the possibility of its coming back to power within the future Government.
Polls conducted among the Hungarian population show that, in an overwhelming proportion, it wants that their representative faction should maintain direct participation in ruling, irrespective of its governing colleagues.
And many of UDMR leaders consider that the collaboration formula should prevail over confrontation, the former variant being more advantageous for the Hungarian minority. And last but not least, such a solution is embraced by some European chancellorships that no longer want any conflict area in the Balkans.
Under these circumstances, UDMR should also hurry up in presenting its option. Marko Bela leader said in fact in an interview made public early this summer that there are certain "reformist groups" inside the former ruling party with which collaboration is not ruled out.
Having been in an expectancy state lately, awaiting the decision of the Council of Union Representatives of September 9 as regards the candidate for presidency, and discontent both with the split between its former coalition partners and with the weak results of the four years of ruling, the Alliance has to decide.
Within a possible PDSR cabinet will it want to retain its position of victim of possible human right violation cases, preferring to protest from the opposition stand or will it accept to fight from the inside to consolidate what it has initiated, though timidly, over the past four years?
Another uncertain element is the future of Hungarian-Magyar relationships, which, in the opinion of both sides, have improved over the ten years since "defrosting," if UDMR chooses power.
Orban Cabinet representatives think that everything depends on the way the future Government will understand respect for human rights and generally the observation of pledges made in front of European and Euro-Atlantic bodies.
A possible tightening of measures linked to minorities could upset the entire balance, which has been instated with difficulty anyway, in the Eastern side of the European Union, and a future ruling, irrespective of its colour, cannot overlook these purely pragmatic factors.
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