Romanian President ‘profoundly concerned’ by polls showing favourable view of communism

On 22 July, the newly elected President of Romania, Nicușor Dan, expressed his dismay in an Instagram post at the results of a newly published national study concerning the ‘Perceptions of the population towards communism’, released by the Institute for the Investigation of Communist Crimes and the Memory of the Romanian Exile.

Specifically, he expressed ‘profound concern’ with a statistic that revealed that 66.2 percent of the population considered Nicolae Ceaușescu, the former Stalinist dictator of Romania, a ‘good leader’. This immediate consternation reflects the worries of the Romanian ruling class at their inability to bury the country’s ‘communist’ past, given the increasing anger that their crisis-ridden system is creating.

Typically, Dan blamed the seeming popularity of Ceaușescu on ‘nostalgia’ and ‘disinformation’. He made a fuss about the increase in ‘anti-democratic’ sentiment that the poll figures show, which, according to pro-establishment figures suggests a shift within the population towards ‘authoritarian’, ‘strong’ leaders like Ceaușescu, or Georgescu and Simion more recently. But even the President has had to admit that:

“The main reason why more and more Romanians idealise communism is because of their profound disappointment towards the political class in the last three decades. Corruption, lack of transparency, broken promises, and a feeling of injustice have weakened the trust of many people in the present and the future.”

This is starkly revealed by the first page of this study: 63.5 percent of Romanians believe the country is “headed in the wrong direction”. This figure alone confirms the fears of Dan and the Romanian establishment, as the institutions which they represent continue to be discredited and hated in the eyes of millions of Romanians, despite the victory of the liberal, pro-EU wing in the recent presidential elections.

The rest of the poll further exposes how discredited the current system is, revealing that 65.1 percent believe there was less corruption under ‘communism’ than in the past thirty years, 77.2 percent believe Romania was a richer country than at present, 58.7 percent believe that state institutions were more efficient, and 66.4 percent believe that the state was taking more care of its citizens.

A clear picture of discontent, hatred, and frustration towards the current regime and the past thirty years of privatisation, austerity, cuts, and corruption scandals emerges from these figures. Every government that Romanians have voted in has only attacked them further, with the new government under Dan’s presidency preparing another round of brutal cuts, which is stirring more anger.

Therefore, when the present state of affairs is held in comparison with the preceding ‘communist’ period, 55.8 percent have agreed with the statement that “the communist regime signified a good thing for Romania”, and 48.4 percent believe life was better before 1989, in comparison with 34.7 percent who believe life was worse.

Whenever similar polls display a favourable view towards communism, they are dismissed by establishment mouthpieces as reflecting the nostalgia of the older generation for the days of their youth.

But what they leave out is that increasing numbers of youth are adopting a positive attitude towards the achievements of the former regime – 45 percent of 18-29 year olds agreed with the statement that “the communist regime signified a good thing for Romania”, 36 percent of them believe life was better, and 58 percent believe Romania was a richer country than today.

This is clearly because a significant portion of the Romanian youth sees no future under capitalism, with high unemployment and a lack of job opportunities driving many of them to migrate in search of better living conditions.

This increasingly favourable view towards the ‘communist’ period has nothing to do with ‘disinformation’ or ‘ignorance’. It has to do with the fact that, due to a nationalised planned economy that provided all of the basic needs of the population, the standards of living were generally better than under capitalism.

That two-thirds of people in the poll thought Ceaușescu was a “good leader” can seem contradictory / Image: fototeca.iiccr.ro

When looking back to the ‘communist period’, 75.1 percent believe there was more social security, 48.6 percent believe there was easier access to healthcare, 49.9 percent better access to quality education, and 85.1 percent believe food was healthier. Today, Romania has one of the largest gaps between the rich and the poor in the EU, with most of the population lacking access to quality healthcare and basic household necessities, such as private toilets or safe water supplies.

This does not mean that most people have forgotten about the real crimes of the monstrous Ceaușescu dictatorship. The figures indicate general agreement with such statements as there being ‘less liberty’ under Ceaușescu, the former regime being responsible for abuses and crimes, travel being restricted, privileged positions being confined to party bureaucrats, and thousands being killed and tortured by the regime.

That two-thirds of people in the poll thought Ceaușescu was a “good leader” can seem contradictory, but this is because his leadership is, for those with a positive view of the period, associated with the higher living standards they enjoyed compared to after his downfall.

Even morally and culturally, the vast majority of people believed that “people helped each other more often”, or that films, music and TV shows were better during the communist period. The masses’ quality of life was stripped away by the misery and exploitation inflicted by capitalist restoration.

Therefore, President Nicușor Dan and the establishment he represents have very good reasons for being “profoundly concerned”. His shameless prostration before the EU and the austerity he will implement in their name will only brew more hatred towards the regime, and will make his government one of the most hated in recent times.

Unrest is already growing among significant sections of the Romanian working class. Several trade union confederations have been pressured to discuss a possible general strike in response to Dan’s austerity measures.

All signs indicate huge class struggles lying ahead. To bring these struggles to a successful conclusion, the workers will need to be led towards eliminating capitalism once more.