Ceauşescu hugely popular

The Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu was toppled 22 years ago today in Bucharest. Nevertheless there are 148 Ceauşescu fan pages on Facebook and he has thousands of friends, causing the weekly Revista 22 to ask why he is so loved: "Dictators become likeable once again when the transition to a normal society drags on, is too arduous and causes too much collateral damage. ... When key institutions are staffed with people associated with the old regime. When the pensions are too low compared with prices. When the country's democracy fails to ensure equality among the people. When corruption among those in power becomes a matter of course. ... Then the calls for the late dictator become entirely credible - for the ignorant, or for those stuck in a precarious situation who can easily be manipulated. Even the dictators who were chased from power during the Arab Spring will soon return once again as popular figures, when the institutions don't function according to the rules of democracy and the wallets of the revolutionaries are empty."

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