Monarchistic dreams in Romania

There is talk of bringing back the Romanian monarchy. Ioan Vianu looks back at 30 December 1947, the day when Romania's communist regime forced Romanian King Michael I to abdicate. "I was a teenager and I remember a deep sadness that gripped the entire country, as if we had all lost a close relative. The communists may have controlled all avenues of power, but the forced abdication of the monarch gave us the feeling of having been abandoned. These days, an appeal for reestablishment of the monarchy has been circulating, and prominent personalities have signed it. Their motivations are surely honourable, but only a parliamentary system can ensure the country's proper development. But for that you need a 'clean' parliament, and that's exactly what we're lacking. If our elections don't accomplish that, with or without a king, we are done for, and the legislators with us."

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