Klaus Johannes loses his luster as "champion of democracy"

 

 Romanian President Klaus Johannes has built a brilliant international reputation as a champion of democracy, but it is fading in his country, where critics accuse him of overthrowing a government that "breeds corruption", writes POLITICO in its European edition.

Just a few months ago, Johannes received the prestigious Charlemagne Prize in Aachen, Germany, for outstanding contributions to European unity, an honor honored in the past by historical figures including Winston Churchill, Vaclav Havel and Pope John Paul II.

 The winners praised Johannes, who will join his EU counterparts at this week's Brussels European Council, for "embodying our shared European values, our commitment to European rule of law and our shared vision of a European future". “. They described him as "steadfast" in the pro-European course and praised his commitment to fighting corruption and separation of powers.

 But Romanian pro-democracy activists, anti-corruption activists, scholars and others who once saw Johannes as a symbol of hope turned against him over the new government, made up of the two largest parties in parliament, the Social Democrats and the National Liberals.

While the parties nominally belong to Europe's center-left and center-right camps, respectively, their opponents are most concerned that they will share the spoils of power and withdraw efforts to fight corruption that has loomed over Romania since the end of communist rule.

 Disappointment with the new government, which took office last month, could have dire consequences, analysts warn. It risks fueling distrust of political power, a key driver of Romania's low coronavirus vaccination rate. It could also strengthen the far right against vaccines, which has gained momentum in recent years. And retreating from the rule of law could jeopardize access to EU funds.

 Although the new coalition was agreed between the two parties themselves, insiders say Johannes played a key role in its implementation in an attempt to end months of political crisis and paralysis of power in Bucharest.

This has angered many former supporters of the president, a former mayor of Sibiu who won his first term as head of state in 2014 with a campaign to fight corruption and strengthen judicial independence. Johannes was easily re-elected in 2019.

 "Johannes is the political author of this situation. He does not look like the politician he was in his first term, "said Cristian Pirvulescu, a political scientist and dean at the National School of Political Studies and Public Administration in Bucharest.

Local and international NGOs and prominent intellectuals denounced the new coalition as "the most shameless betrayal of the popular vote since 1990."