Romania between a rock and a hard place

Romanian President Traian Băsescu was reelected  in a run-off ballot on Sunday. Unfortunately the only choice open to Romanians, writes the left-liberal Frankfurter Rundschau: "The president used the five years of his first term principally to cast himself as a lone wolf in the fight against corruption, and had no qualms about causing chaos to achieve this goal. He spread unproved accusations and blocked the parliament. For more than two months the provisional government in Bucharest hasn't passed a single law. This foolhardy dispute can only end with all of the belligerent parties being faced with ruin. ... But the election on Sunday was not one of those rare occasions on which the Romanians make the wrong choice. Rather it fits in with the rule that for the most part they simply don't have a choice. ... Ever since the fall of the dictator Ceauşescu twenty years ago, the Romanians have never had an election where they could really affect the outcome concerning political programmes or alternatives."

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