Romanians Hail Power-Sharing Pact, Foresee Pre-Election Calm

The fledgling political parties of Romania reacted favorably Friday to the arrangement reached with the National Salvation Front to share power in governing the country until national elections are held.

The front, which has been running Romania since dictator Nicolae Ceausescu was overthrown Dec. 22, brought in 29 newly formed or re-established opposition parties to join a provisional Council of National Unity as the supreme body of state authority until the elections, now set for May 20.

“We have reached a national consensus,” said Sergiu Cunescu, the leader of the Social Democratic Party. “A new council has been created which is a small parliament virtually, and spirits have calmed down. I think this is the beginning of a truly democratic life in Romania, if we observe the pledges we have taken.” The pledges Cunescu referred to are commitments by all parties, including the front, to refrain from street demonstrations until the elections are held.

The agreement on the power-sharing formula was reached in round-table negotiations led by interim President Ion Iliescu, a member of the front. The front had come under fire from the new political parties--as well as from such foreign critics as the U.S. State Department--for policies that were described as “intimidation.”

The drive against the front was led by the National Peasants and National Liberal parties, whose roots go back to the pre-World War II period.

The agreement earlier this week was seen by some diplomats as primarily a victory for Cunescu, of the Social Democrats, and Peasants Party leader Valentin Gabrielescu, who started the drive to break down what they saw as a dangerous monopoly of power in the hands of the front.

The Peasants Party sent demonstrators into the streets last weekend in a noisy protest outside the Foreign Ministry, where the provisional government makes its headquarters. The front responded the following day with a demonstration of its own outside the joint headquarters of the two parties.

The street demonstrations, which grew to tens of thousands on Monday and Tuesday, were seen as an ominous sign that the front had opted for what one diplomat called “making politics in the street.”

The widespread positive reaction from the parties, some of them small and regionally based, suggests that the political situation should settle in for a period of relative calm while the parties prepare for the elections.

“We are contented, and we think that (Iliescu’s) cooperation in the political area will yield fine results for Romania and for the rebirth of Romanian democracy,” said Radu Cimpeanu of the National Liberal Party.

“From the position of confrontation started a few days ago,” Gheorghe Susana of the Liberal Democratic Social Justice Party said, “we have reached a stage where we are all looking confidently ahead, and I believe we’ll start a civilized, democratic election campaign.”

Western diplomats described the front’s decision as “adroit,” noting that Iliescu quieted international and domestic criticism with a single move.

“He showed some political flexibility,” the diplomat said. “Perhaps it is premature to say that he co-opted the opposition, but it is now going to be more difficult for opposition parties to contend they are actually in the opposition. Iliescu brought them inside, and it was a very smart move. This may help demonstrate that the leaders of the front are more than just a pack of reformed Marxists. They begin now to look like astute politicians.”

Iliescu and Petre Roman, the prime minister, are frequent visitors to factories, where they give speeches, meet with the workers and tour workshops, shaking hands as they go. Even the strongest of the opposition parties, the Peasants and the Liberals, have not advanced to that stage of campaigning.

Political observers are not sure how the opposition parties will align themselves in the new Provisional Council of National Unity, which will act as a sort of parliament until the elections are held. As the process goes on, it is likely that a number of small parties will merge or join forces with larger parties in order to survive the elections.