Romania is the European Union country with the richest politicians and the largest number of poor citizens.
Twenty-five years since the December 1989 Revolution, we launch the Anti-Corruption Movement.
We call on the Romanian society, with all its constituents—institutional, professional, cultural, civic, judicial, economic, social and political components—to show solidarity and stand up to the most severe evil that affects the Romanian state, its key institutions and its citizens: ENDEMIC CORRUPTION!
Our initiative group launches a public
ANTI-CORRUPTION MANIFESTO
After the toppling of the totalitarian communist regime, Romania was hijacked by new power structure insiders, which are apparently democratic but essentially work as organized crime structures. Under our eyes, a corrupt state has emerged, which has gradually taken control of the democratic country and has destroyed the rule of law.
The corruption of the political class, of public institutions, and of the judiciary, tramples the people on a daily basis, and denies Romania any chance of healthy development.
Ten million Romanians are poor, and half of them struggle with extreme poverty.
Romania is the country with the largest number of poor children. More than a quarter of the Romanian kids live in poverty.
Four million Romanians have left the country to find jobs abroad.
Our country has the largest number of illiterate people in the European Union, and the largest poverty-driven school drop-out rate.
Romania is “Europe’s squanderer.” It ranks 4th in the world in terms of the combined value of natural resources. Romania is second only to Russia in terms of natural assets. But Romanians’ access to these resources is hindered, through generalized theft, the illegal seizing and sale of these resources.
Recent investigations by the National Anti-Corruption Directorate (DNA) have produced irrefutable evidence on grand corruption among politicians in Romania, on the illegal oligarchy that has overpowered our state, the state of citizens. The moral and social squalor in which we live is fully owing to political parties and to their promoting, in all institutions, individuals appointed on political criteria, who simply carry out orders as in a mafia ring.
So far, no political party has promoted politicians and administration personnel exclusively on professional and moral criteria and merits. If you read the resumes of those who have been leading us for the past 25 years, you will find few exceptions!
The political class and politicized administration need in-depth reforming!
Today we can, through civic pressure, change the corrupt state and replace it with the rule of law. A true, rather than declarative, selective, discretionary rule of law. But for this to happen, we need the unity of all the citizens who see corruption as a barrier preventing them from achieving their well-being through professional and moral merits.
It is time we said NO to CORRUPTION!
1. We want a profound reform of the political class! We no longer want to choose between corrupt and incompetent politicians! We want promotion criteria based on meritocracy! We want intelligent, honest politicians, with good professional background! We want a high performing political class, able to ensure Romania’s development!
2. We want all the “classified” business cases to be made public! Their secrecy is a means to defraud the national economy and implicitly the national budget, through the unjustified payment of billion of euros (e.g. the Bechtel case, the Rosia Montana case, etc).
3. We want the revision of the privatization process in state-owned companies! The current poverty of the Romanian citizens is caused by the way in which privatization was operated in Romania. Most of these companies were sold for much less than their actual worth and offered as “gifts” to destructive cronies who plundered them and then closed them down, leaving scores of thousands of unemployed people behind.
4. We want the revision of the restitution of forests, land and buildings! The huge wealth of politicians and of their cronies, as the recent DNA arrests indicate, were fraudulent, according to the principle “communism stole our wealth and democracy stole it once again.”
5. We want a profound reform of the judicial system, for the rule of law to be truly reinstated in Romania!
At present the Romanian judiciary is autarchic. The system works selectively. The ‘90s principle that said “In court you are as right as you are rich” is still valid. We do not want the Higher Council of Magistrates to operate as a trade union for magistrates! We no longer want magistrates appointed by political institutions in exchange for being obedient or responsive to their signals!
6. We want all the communist political police files on detainees, prison personnel and informants to be posted on the internet!
7. We want a profound reform of intelligence services and competent Parliament control over them!
8. We want all children to have access to a modern education system! Children are the future of a nation. The state, through its institutions, is under the obligation to provide financial support to the children in rural communities, to fight drop out and reduce illiteracy.
9. We want a healthy public healthcare system! We want all taxpayers to have access to competent, bribery-free healthcare services!
10. We want public services to be in the service of citizens, rather than abusively used by civil servants and elected officials! Communities must decide on the spending of public funds and on development priorities, to their best interest. We must put an end to the draining of public funds to the benefit of public money “clients,” hand in hand with those who unlawfully distribute these budgets!
11. We want to replace the “republic of deceitful politicians” with the country of all honest and rich Romanians!
No more theft-ridden Romania! No more corrupt Romania! No more poor Romania!
It is time for solidarity in the NATIONAL ANTI-CORRUPTION FIGHT!
It is time to regain the RULE OF LAW IN ROMANIA!
The “Anti-Corruption Movement” Initiative Group
