A velvet-like liberalism

Several declarations and events have implied that everything might be ruined due to the dissentions between the National Liberal president Mircea Ionescu-Quintus and his first deputy, Valeriu Stoica. This is happening in the same period when all the liberal parties were gathering to the present PNL (the National Liberal Party). Two days ago, Quintus tried to disprove all these scenarios. He came out on the spotlight and announced that he trusted Valeriu Stoica completely. He may be his successful successor to the presidency of the party after all.
In a period when the reform needs to go on in all the society’s sectors, the presence of a party of liberal kind in Romania can prove to be extremely welcome. The Romanian liberal movements have been broken down bit by bit since 1990. This reality has partly an objective support. There haven’t been a mutual concern of businessmen and those performing liberal jobs in our country so far. This concern would have pressed the actions’ unification and consequently, the coming into being of an authentic right-wing party in Romania to forward their interests.
The problem is that in an authentic market economics the interest to apply the liberal policies by the political component of that class should be the only approach to tackle. Yet, the Romanian liberal movement has always groped in search for its true objectives.
Meanwhile, many things have been changed. Some of them even in a radical way. On one hand, it became impossible to accomplish a real tough reform and the possible future restructuring of the big r‚gies through dirty business, corruption or on the back of industrial giants. On the other hand, those who have made money all these years even on their positions of simple office workers, wish to invest it now. Furthermore, the anti-corruption operations restrain the socialist-like businessmen’ area more and more. Finally, the fact that the state-run economy is already exhausted from resources makes the state appear ill favored even as an honest partner or as a job bidder.
Under these circumstances, a mutual interest of a category of some electoral significance, amounting to even 20%, to encourage the liberal policies may appear. In the future Romania, a credible right-wing party may have a brilliant future. Will PNL be the one? It’s hard to say. It is doubtless that the recent reconciliation of the liberal leaders may be a good sign, in this respect. If the liberal leaders know how to handle their future alliances, without compromising the Romanian liberal movement again and for good, we shall just wait and see. (Claudiu RAUS)