Romanians Go to Polls, Warily Test Democracy

Romanians braved icy stares and unspoken threats to cast their ballots Sunday in elections expected to be swept by the governing National Salvation Front after the most troubled campaign in the spree of elections this spring among Eastern Europe’s self-styled democracies.

Bucharest Radio said that outright acts of violence were rare, although several complaints filtered into the capital alleging that ballots in some rural regions near Iasi and Cluj had been marked before being given to voters.

In one incident in Bucharest, reporters observing two election workers charged with bringing the ballot box to house-bound invalids saw them stamping the forms for the National Salvation Front.

International observers said they were aware of “grave irregularities” but declined to make any public statements until today.

Voter turnout was strong for the first multi-party ballot in half a century here, with more than 75% of the nation’s eligible voters having shown up before 8 p.m. Polling hours were extended until midnight from the originally planned 11 p.m. closure after hundreds called election officials to say they hadn’t been able to vote earlier.

The front and its presidential candidate, Ion Iliescu, were widely seen as the favorites in the election, the results of which will not be known before Tuesday.

A West German polling firm that proved extremely accurate in fore casting the outcome of the March 18 vote in East Germany conducted exit polls at 252 voting places in Romania on Sunday. On the basis of more than 16,000 interviews, the Bonn-based INFAS firm predicted a whopping 83% for Iliescu and 66% of the Parliament seats for the front.

But polls are of dubious credibility in Romania, where people are still inclined to say what they feel they should, rather than what they think. Samplings of Romanian media and research institutes have forecast at least 60% of the presidential vote for Iliescu, whose main challengers are returned emigres Radu Campeanu of the Liberal Party and Ion Ratiu of the National Peasants Party.

The front, which took power after dictator Nicolae Ceausescu was toppled in December, had valuable state resources at its disposal for the campaign, such as air transport, the state motor pool and printing presses. The front was repeatedly accused of having unfair advantages over its opponents and of prompting ruffians in the countryside to attack or intimidate rivals.

Even in the capital, under the scrutiny of hundreds of foreign journalists and election monitors, the atmosphere at the polls was one of hope shadowed by fear.

In the schoolyard surrounding the German Lyceum in central Bucharest, Natalie Bonciu looked around nervously and dropped her voice to a whisper to say that the campaign had been dominated by the front.

“The souls of the people are not cured yet. After such a period of terror, everyone is still fearful,” said the 60-year-old economist, like many of her countrymen decked out in her best clothes for the electoral occasion.

“We are still afraid to speak our minds,” interjected her 76-year-old cousin Maria.

Both women said they had voted with their conscience but were worried that too many others had been persuaded by front campaign propaganda that no other political force is qualified to govern.

Nicolae Matase, an 80-year-old retired lawyer who moves slowly with the aid of a battered wooden cane, hobbled out of the same polling place, declaring to those still waiting to cast their ballots: “I voted for the Liberals.

“I’m not afraid. They can’t harm me,” the pensioner stated defiantly, referring to the front.

He said the campaign had been hijacked by the governing party and warned that tensions in Romania are likely to escalate after the vote is counted and the Communists’ former monopoly on power is simply transferred to the front.

“I fear a civil war is brewing,” Matase predicted ominously. “It is hard to inspire ordinary Romanians to action, but once you get them going there is no stopping them.”

Thousands of people opposed to Iliescu and the front have been staging a nonstop rally in thecapital’s University Square since April 22, denouncing the interim governing force as a neo-Communist Party that seeks to ensure its continued grip on power.

The demonstration, which has blocked traffic and turned the lawn of the nearby National Theater into an open-air toilet, slimmed down to a few hundred people during daylight hours Sunday, when some of those who had been swelling the protest’s ranks went off to vote.

Just a few miles southeast in the working-class suburb of Bragadiru, the mood of the voters was both more festive and less diverse. The towns and villages outside of Romania’s major cities are believed to be solid beds of support for the front.

Adults smoked and gossiped on the scruffy lawn and sidewalks in front of the Bragadiru House of Culture, waiting for the three-hour line at the polling place to dwindle and watching over the children brought along as if to a community picnic. An accordion player pressed out folk music under a solitary chestnut tree, and wafts of acrid-sweet air drifted over the crowd from a nearby distillery.

“Everyone had a fair chance to present his ideas. All the parties were on television and radio,” said Emilia Chitac, a transport worker and mother of three. She declined to disclose who she would vote for, pointing out that the ballot is secret, but made clear that she is firmly behind the front.

Ion Nicolae, an oil industry mechanic who travels around the country extensively, said he thought the campaign had been fair and that those protesting in central Bucharest were upset because their candidates were going to lose.

As he spoke, he looked to other men who had edged within earshot, exchanging nods and glances to ensure each other that they were all on the right side.

“I voted for Iliescu,” said Elena Tincea, looking nervously to her husband for permission to speak. Asked why she supports the front, she paused uncertainly, then credited the governing power with the “small changes” Romanians have enjoyed since the revolution.

Part of the allure of the front has been its ability to put food in the shops and restore electricity to homes and offices that, under Ceausescu’s Draconian economics, were limited to as little as two hours of heating and lights each day last winter.

Iliescu voted quietly and without comment to the few press photographers who managed to reachhis polling place before he showed up at 6 a.m., when polls opened nationwide.

The official counting process is expected to take days, with results of the presidential race expected no sooner than late Tuesday and the distribution of 119 Senate seats and 387 seats in the Assembly of Deputies not to be known until Wednesday.

Romanian Election At Stake The presidency; 119 seats in the Senate: 387 seats in the Assembly of Deputies. 15 more seats go to representatives of the main national minorities. The two houses, together called the Constituent Assembly, are to adopt a new constitution and hold fresh parliamentary elections a year later. The Voters About 17.8 million eligible voters (Romanians 18 or older) will choose from among 82 parties running for Parliament in some or all of the country’s 41 constituent districts. Only six parties are expected to win seats (see below). Major Parties National Salvation Front 1 million members claimed Dominant force since the December overthrow of the Ceausescu regime; controls interim government. Favors cautions moves toward a free-market economy. Expected to win a majority of seats in Parlament. For President: Ion Illescu *Incumbent” interium president; age 60; former Communist minister demoted by Ceausescu in 1971. National Liberal Party 600,000 members claimed Favors rapid privatization and foreign investment. Most support among urban youth and intellectuals. For President: Radu Campeau. Inprisoned in 1950’s; exile in France 1973-1989; age 66 National Peasants Party 800,000 members claimed Revived “historical” party with main support in rural areas. For President: Ion Ratiu. Left Romania in 1940; made millions in Britain; returned after revolution; age 72 Smaller parties expected to win seats Ecology Party Akin to western Green parties, stresses environmental concerns. Democratic Agranian Party Alternative to Peasants for rural voters. Social Democratic Party Center-left views