The Iohannis Decade

Like many other times in the past 35 years, Romanians now find themselves in front of a difficult choice. In our fragile democracy, selecting a president from a pool of candidates that hardly rise to the expectations of the presidential office, has never been an easy task. It becomes even more complicated if we take a closer look at present-day Romania—a country of dashed hopes, mistrust, and apathy. Whoever comes next will, inevitably, come as the consequence of a decade that has not yet fully ended—the Iohannis decade.

Looking back at the past ten years can be a painful exercise. It forces us to relive certain events, but it also helps us understand them. What happened with the hopes that followed the Colectiv tragedy? How did political power manifest itself beyond the thick walls of the Cotroceni Palace? Were we wrong to place such high expectations on the president? What remains of the judicial independence — the cause that people took to the streets to defend and which Klaus Iohannis used as an electoral springboard? And how has the power of the intelligence services in Romania quietly grown?

In these past ten years we as a society have lacked vision, direction, and above all, explanations. That is why we, as journalists, felt it was our duty to piece together, from relevant testimonies, what this last decade of our recent history has meant.

The Iohannis decade is one in which the justice system, transparency, and democracy have lost ground in Romania. But they are more than ten years of power games and political arrangements, they are, first and foremost, ten years of our own lives. Ten years we must understand. 

Editors: Cristian Delcea, Mihai Voinea
Image: David Muntean
Editing: Ionuț Duinea, David Muntean
Graphics: Teodora Preda

Cover Photo: Codrin Prisecaru / Mediafax Foto