The 2012–2015 unrest in Romania refers to a prolonged period of civil unrest and political scandals in Romania, which took magnitude after the second half of the 2000s. The wave of civil demonstrations started in January 2012, once with the introduction of a new health reform legislation. The protests were fueled by the austerity measures applied in May 2010, but also by the unpopularity of Băsescu-backed Boc government. The demonstrations were characterized by widespread rioting and acts of vandalism. The political situation precipitated, so Prime Minister Emil Boc decided to step down on 6 February 2012.
In the first six months of the year, three governments have been changed. The summer of 2012 was marked by a large-scale political crisis, fed by accusations of plagiarism to PSD-backed Prime Minister Victor Ponta and culminating with the suspension of President Traian Băsescu. Although the presidential impeachment referendum showed that over 80% of the voters wanted his dismissal, the referendum was invalidated by the Constitutional Court due to presence below 50% at polls. During this period, Romania was warned by Western powers about the state of democracy, inasmuch as the dismissal of the presidents of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies was made in a shady manner, and prominent figures of PSD, including Vice-President Liviu Dragnea, were accused of vote rigging in the referendum.
After sweeping victory in legislative election on 9 December 2012, Victor Ponta – supported by the Social Liberal Union – was named Prime Minister of Romania. His mandate was marked by corruption scandals and street protests. The demonstrations had various causes, among them the tax hikes, the exploitation of shale gas through hydraulic fracturing and the Roșia Montană Project. Hundreds of thousands of people, including doctors, teachers, students and laborers, took to the street to shout their dissatisfaction regarding his policies. Employees in transport and health system triggered several strikes in this period. Although mainly peaceful, the protests degenerated in some cases in clashes between demonstrators and law enforcers. Ponta Government was accused by national and international organizations of excessive use of force in the Revolt of Pungești. Ethnic Hungarians started a series of protests for the autonomy of Szeklerland, while the unionist movements (Action 2012) demanded the unification of Moldova and Romania, both in Romania and over the Prut.
In the winter of 2014, the ruling alliance collapsed, after internal tensions between PSD and PNL. The National Liberal Party left the alliance and merged with the Democratic Liberal Party to form the largest right-wing party in Romania in the post-revolutionary period. In the summer of the same year, Victor Ponta from PSD and Klaus Iohannis from PNL launched their candidatures for the presidential election. To everyone's surprise, ethnic German Klaus Iohannis won the election. Ponta's failure was mainly due to irregularities concerning the voting process in diaspora and numerous corruption scandals involving figures from the party he leads. During the electoral campaign, people protested against Victor Ponta and members of his government, inasmuch as thousands of Romanian citizens in diaspora were prevented from exercising their right to vote due to bad organization of the election process.
Background
Social issues Romania is the country with the highest poverty levels in the European Union. More than 30% of the population lives on less than $5 per day. In a report conducted by the Presidential Commission for the Analysis of Social and Demographic Risks is specified that there are visible discrepancies between social strata, privileged groups benefiting of higher wages and pensions in comparison with the rest of the population. Bankruptcy of many companies thickens the unemployment rate, in July 2013 reaching the value of 7.6%, highest since onset of the economic crisis in 2010. Other companies, including state companies – Romanian Post, Romanian Railways, are on the verge of bankruptcy, being forced to make cutbacks.
After application of drastic austerity measures in 2010, the Romanian economy recovered. Thus, in 2013, Romania recorded the highest economic growth in the EU. Despite this growth, the standard of living is decreasing, many Romanians being unable to endure everyday expenses. Poor working conditions, mass layoffs and tax hikes displease the population that is filling the squares of main cities to shout their grievances.
Political turmoil Over the past 25 years, Romania has experienced a complex process of democratization with moments of crisis, economic stagnation, radical nationalism and extreme polarization. Despite Romania's admission into NATO in 2004, and into the European Union in 2007, the political situation remained unstable, with recurrent institutional clashes between the President, Prime Minister and Parliament, such as in 2007 and 2012 and tough austerity measures that fuelled social tensions.
Timeline of the events
Mid-January 2012 riots
These were the first events of the two-year civil unrest. They were triggered by the introduction of a new health reform legislation and worsening standard of life. President Traian Băsescu's popularity collapsed mainly after imposing austerity measures in 2010, year when Romania also confronted with short living but large street demonstrations. The attempted privatization of SMURD and the denigration by Traian Băsescu of Raed Arafat, its founder, was vehemently criticized by people on the streets.
The protests started with a 3,000-large demonstration in Târgu Mureș on 12 January, as a sign of solidarity with Raed Arafat. In the following weeks, protests spread to other sixty Romanian cities and dozens of cities in the Romanian diaspora. In Bucharest, the largest protest took place on 19 January, when up to 20,000 people expressed their disagreements with Băsescu regime. Several days, Bucharest faced widespread rioting and acts of vandalism. Thousands of policemen and gendarmes were deployed on the streets to confront angry demonstrators that stoned the vehicles of the law enforcers, vandalized shops and burned cars. Riot police used tear gas and flares to repel demonstrators who blocked traffic in the center of Bucharest. According to the Gendarmerie, destructions were caused by football ultras infiltrated among peaceful demonstrators. During these days of turmoil, several protesters entered the Romanian Television headquarters to blame the broadcaster for censorship. Official figures indicated over 60 injuries during clashes between police and protesters, while up to 283 arrests were made. Several journalists were injured while transmitting live the events. South East Europe Media Organisation, a NGO that has its headquarters in Vienna, expressed concern about the level of violence against reporters who covered the protests.
On the morning of 6 February 2012, Prime Minister Emil Boc announced his resignation, in an attempt "to ease the social situation". During weeks of protests, Băsescu stated nothing and did not appear in public. Emil Boc was replaced by Mihai Răzvan Ungureanu, former Director of the Foreign Intelligence Service.
2012 political crisis
Soon after government led by Mihai Răzvan Ungureanu fell in no confidence vote, Victor Ponta took in office. Ponta is an ardent Băsescu's opponent. In June 2012, they were the protagonists of a major political crisis, starting with conflicting views on Romania's representative to the European Council reunion of 28 June and escalating with the suspension of President Traian Băsescu. In the same period, Prime Minister Victor Ponta was accused of plagiarism in his doctoral thesis. These accusations fed the political instability.
On 3 July, the Romanian Parliament, at the proposal of majority represented by Social Liberal Union, voted the dismissal of President of the Senate and President of the Chamber of Deputies. Through an Emergency Ordinance, the government restricted the attributions of the Constitutional Court, restoring them to the 2010 status. Likewise, USL leaders Victor Ponta and Crin Antonescu started procedures to dismiss President Traian Băsescu. These measures irritated the international politicians which expressed concerns over the state of democracy and the rule of law in Romania. On 6 July, Băsescu was suspended after the impeachment motion filed by the ruling coalition passed the Parliament's vote. The motion passed with 256 votes, 39 more than the minimum required. USL leaders argued their action by saying that President Traian Băsescu has breached the Constitution and overstepped his authority.
On 9 July, the Constitutional Court ascertained President Băsescu's suspension and confirmed Crin Antonescu as Interim President. Therewith, Constitutional Court rejected complaints formulated by Vasile Blaga and Roberta Anastase, supported by PDL, regarding removal from office of President of the Senate and President of the Chamber of Deputies. On 20 July, USL laid down, at the Office of the High Court of Cassation and Justice, a penal complaint against suspended President Traian Băsescu and other 14 people, for "spreading false information, for defamation of the country and the nation and for endangering safety of the national economy and currency stability", given that Băsescu cataloged the events as a "coup d'état". In the following days, Crin Antonescu cut Băsescu's special phone line, after the Senate's Defence Committee found out that the Special Telecommunication Agency illegally deployed the secret phone line at Băsescu's office. Băsescu accused USL of dismantling all national security institutions and cataloged them as "a gang of traitors".
The presidential impeachment referendum took place on 29 July. On 21 August, the Constitutional Court decided that the referendum is invalid due to presence under 50%. However, 87.52% of those present in the referendum voted for Băsescu's impeachment. PDL boycotted the referendum, while the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán exhorted ethnic Hungarians in Romania to stay away from the polls, fact that explains the low turnout in Hungarian majority counties of Harghita and Covasna. There were rumors regarding vote rigging. In October 2013, Deputy Prime Minister Liviu Dragnea and 74 others were accused of falsifying data to sway the vote's outcome. On 22 April 2016, Liviu Dragnea was sentenced to two years probation.
Related protests
The summer of 2012 in Romania was marked not only by political instability, but by civil unrest. In early July, on the background of plagiarism scandal, demonstrations took place in several locations in Bucharest. The demonstrations, entitled suggestively the "Protest of inverted commas" (), were attended by hundreds of people, among them former Prime Minister Ungureanu, aiming Victor Ponta's resignation.
In the pre-referendum period, several demonstrations in support of President Traian Băsescu took place throughout the country. In Arad and Timișoara, clashes between pro- and anti-Băsescu demonstrators erupted, but were quickly dispersed by gendarmes. On 6 July, 2,000 people gathered at a rally in Bucharest to support President Băsescu. The rally was attended by prominent members of PDL and degenerated towards evening in altercations with anti-Băsescu demonstrators that infiltrated among supporters of the president.