The Price of Politics

You will probably have gathered I am back in Romania. Quite a lot of things are happening and some things are moving very fast. This always happens: you think things will be quiet for a bit and then three busses come along at the same time.
Today being Sunday, Romania is in full political mode. Next Sunday is the election date when a new government will almost certainly be elected. The present Liberal alliance has only been in power for 4 years but has been particularly greedy for its own supporters - Mayors with projects for their villages have found that if they are not of the present ruling party nothing gets done. One might cynically say that's what happens everywhere, but for the Romanians this is a new departure. Previously, projects got funded pretty even-handedly.
The weather is fantastic. A light sprinkling of snow, brilliant blue skies and sun making the air taste of champagne - one wants to be in the hills , and we were by 7:30 this morning, despite only getting here at 2am today. Looking over the fields towards the church fortress of Alma Vii made me want to stay there all day, but I had been bidden by the Mayor to attend his political rallies for the Social Democrat and Conservative party senator and deputy.
The names are slightly misleading. Social Democratic, yes OK, Conservatives , mmm, not as we understand it. Together these will form the largest block in the new Parliamnet and Senate for the next 4 years.
And what is their platform? It would sound very familiar to us. New Schools, better healthcare, higher pensions and more money for teachers, policemen, nurses and so on. I should mention that a senior teacher's take-home pay is presently about GBP150 per month, and has been frozen since 2003. So even allowing for inflation they should be on about GBP180 per month.
But there are differences. Religion in the shape of the Romanian Orthodox Church is a huge supporter of the Mayor's party, actually called the PSD, and spoke at all three rallies today in support of the candidates. Functionaries ( civil servants in local government to us) also spoke, telling everyone how badly they were being treated by the party in power (" Yes I'm the man that hands out the money but when the Government sees its for a PSD Mayor, it's cut").
Most importantly, virtually everyone, including the children, turned out in the three villages that were politicked today. And they all sat through the speeches silently, and with rapt attention.
Alin only had to translate the first time, as the words were almost identical each time.
The most telling exchange was a girl of about 10 whose father was talking to his friend.
" Papa "she hissed " No talking! Listen! And you better vote for them next Sunday!"
Once the speeches were over, there were Romanian songs, cake, wine and tuica, but only a little.
A couple of the ideas were good. If you are a pensioner and your partner dies, you will in future be paid a 25% increase in the present single person's pension. If you are a young person under 26, you will qualify to get 25% off any house you choose. The state will pay for the rest and remains a 25% owner until you sell, at which point, win or lose, it gets its money back. Rather a better idea than ploughing dead cash into Northern Rock.
After it was all over, the politicos and Alin and I ended up at Elena's in Nemsa for dinner. It was a light meal, as befitted a serious day's work - sausages, cheese, ham, pate, bread. Yes there was tuica and wine, but very little was drunk.
Actually, I was quite surprised by this, until I discovered the Mayor had started his annual detox on 15th November - no alcohol and no meat until 24th. December.
Half way through the evening two out of the three local policemen turned up.
I've mentioned it before, but in Romania, having a connection is everything. So these two officers were there so that everyone in the district would know they could walk in to the Senator's private function.
The senior man was there on a completely different mission.
"Mr. King, you never had my mij".
Now mij are a sort of oven-baked sausage, made from pork.
This policeman, however, is the acknowledged number one chef in the whole region. His goat stew is something that people are prepared to travel from Bucharest for when he is catering a function. You may ask why is he cooking when he is a policeman, and the answer is he loves it.
His mij are known to be the best in Romania. His secret is that he uses venison mixed with pork - and this is the season for killing the pigs and shooting the deer.
" I will make for you on Thursday lunchtime, before you catch the train to leave" ( as you should know by now, lunchtime here is anything from 5pm onwards - my train is 11:30 pm)
There was a collective sigh around the table. Everyone looked at me.
" I would be delighted. May I bring some friends?"
" Da da ( yes yes) how many you want bring?" I did a quick tally round the table.
" Say 12 including myself?"
" Segur!" ( Sure) A delighted sigh went up.
I have a feeling that next time I need a political favour there won't be any problems.