Before you ask why the boring pictures of crowds, I'll tell you straight away: it's about politics. The politics of a small country - small at least on a global scale, a country dominated by single party politics, of a single party best described as a well-organized mafia structure above any ideology except sheer and raw desire to rule. The politics of a party missing one single position in state: the state president. A country where the most prominent candidate in today's presidential campaign openly claimed his admiration of the Chinese government ways to do things, his admiration to the Russian president and his approval of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a guy who announced he's going to amnesty all his party friends (a good chunk serving years of prison for stealing billions) as soon he becomes president, a guy who invented on his CV a Masters and downloaded his PhD thesis then fired (as the prime minister he currently is) all the universitaries who exposed him. Yes, this is a post from "meanwhile in Romania". Meanwhile, the Romanian Facebook is full of accounts of vote rigging - photos of presidents of voting sections stamping fake bulletins, films of cars and buses transporting voters from a section to another, elderly being handed bags of goodies to vote for "our red master", independent observers bullied, beaten and kicked out, votes registered for dead people... Meanwhile, the Romanian television stations, subordinated to the current power, invent stories of the counter-candidates trying to sell half of the country, of counter-candidates cutting the allowances for everybody, or just swearing at anybody trying to point all this dangerous nonsense. I wanted to vote against the ruling mafia. I waited three hours to be able to cast my vote (along the pictured folks) and we were the lucky ones - in Berlin and London they had to wait 9 and 10 hours, in New York 6, and why? Because outside Romania, a Romanian citizen in exposed to the naked truth of these mafia bosses, and the official (yes, official) decision of the overlords-controlled government was to reduce the foreign polling stations to a minimum, and laugh at those trying to fight their way in. In Paris and Turin the embassies called the police to tear gas their own citizens trying to make use of their constitutional right. Yes, meanwhile in Romania. Why are these leaders still in place, you might ask? Because of us, of course. Because we weren't able to motivate enough, until now. I've heard the exit polls estimate the overlords losing the presidential vote. It's going to be a small victory if confirmed, because they still hold the power. But maybe in two years, when the parliamentary elections take place, we will manage to regroup more, and take another step away from the apparatchiks and the big Russian brother watching Romania from close distance. Hopefully. With these grim thoughts we headed back home, admiring en passant the Swiss Parliament building draped in a wonderful lights show and sipping some a mulled wine, some a beer for encouragement. The Cardinal Brunette was better than expected, very weak but with the right combination (if you really paid attention), I would have enjoyed it more in summer and with less "meanwhile in Romania" politics bad taste. And don't be lulled by the label - it's since long no craft beer anymore.
