BUCAREST, Oct 6, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Romania goes to the polls this weekend in
a referendum on a narrow definition of marriage that the ruling Social
Democrats hope will re-energise flagging grassroots support among the
country’s overwhelmingly Orthodox population.
Nearly 19 million Romanians are entitled to vote in the plebiscite which
aims to alter the wording of the constitution to define marriage explicitly
as between a man and woman, rather than simply “spouses” as it has stated
since 1991.
“My Orthodox education and my traditional upbringing make me say ‘yes’,”
the Social Democratic Party (PSD)’s strongman, Liviu Dragnea, said recently.
It was Dragnea, 55, who led the PSD to a sweeping victory in 2016
elections.
But he was unable to run for the post of prime minister due to legal
troubles, including a two-year suspended prison sentence for vote-rigging in
a referendum in 2016.
And he is scheduled to appear in court on Monday to appeal another sentence
— of three-and-a-half years — over a fake jobs scandal.
– Rising homophobia –
From a legal point of view, nothing will change if the “yes” side wins the
referendum, which is being held over two days to ensure maximum turnout.
Same-sex couples are currently not allowed by law to marry or enter into
civil partnerships in Romania, anyway.
Nevertheless, critics say a change in the wording of the constitution will
make it difficult or nigh-on impossible for gays and lesbians to marry in
future.
The country’s LGBT community, which already complains that gay people are
subject to widespread discrimination on an everyday basis, believes the
referendum — which has the explicit backing of the Orthodox church — will
fuel homophobia still further.
Romania, which joined the European Union in 2007 and is the bloc’s second-
poorest member after Bulgaria, only decriminalised homosexuality in 2001.
And a victory of the “yes” vote is widely expected to be a done deal, with
a new poll on Friday showing as many as 90 percent of people in favour.
For the vote to be valid, a minimum turnout of 30 percent is required.
A defeat would deal a severe blow to the Social Democrats who have been
campaigning, albeit unofficially, alongside Orthodox priests for the “yes”
side.
– Concern in Brussels –
The government’s decision to press ahead with the referendum has alarmed
Brussels, with the EU Commission’s deputy chief, Frans Timmermans, reminding
Bucharest of its human rights commitments.
“I don’t want family values to be transformed into arguments that encourage
the darkest demons and hatred against sexual minorities,” he said during a
debate on a series of reforms that are seen as undermining the independence
of Romania’s judiciary.
Sociologist Marius Pieleanu of the Avangarde institute warned that such
interjections could actually have the reverse effect as eurosceptic sentiment
gains ground in the country.
“Some undecided voters might swing to the ‘yes’ side precisely because they
feel such attitudes are hostile towards Romania,” he told AFP.
If the anti-gay marriage lobby has been ramping up its rhetoric in the run-
up to the vote, civil rights groups have urged a boycott.
“In a democracy, the rights of minorities are not put to a vote. That’s the
difference between the Middle Ages and the 21st century,” said the Centre for
Legal Resources, a non-profit NGO.
Bela Marko, a poet and former president of the Ethnic Hungarians’ Union in
Romania, warned that “everything will change the day after the vote, as other
initiatives will follow, first against abortion, then on the state’s
religion, the death penalty, the Roma” and other issues.