The result of the first round of the elections has brought worrying news: a far-right candidate has come out on top and will go into the second round facing a candidate who is a big fan of austerity policies, who supports the further destruction of the historic gains of those who work-for example, cutting the solidarity fund for those in need and left out of work by the insatiable accumulation of profit by the bosses and their representatives, the state administrators. This situation reflects the deep crises and contradictions in our society, crises which the ruling class has produced and which the reactionary forces are trying to exploit for their own interests.
The rise of the far right is not an isolated phenomenon, but the result of years of austerity, attacks on the rights of the working people and political disillusionment. Austerity policies have weakened public services and increased poverty, leaving many vulnerable to nationalist and xenophobic rhetoric. And the vote on 4 May was clearly a vote of revolt, of the need for change.
Both candidates represent, in different ways, the interests of capital. Some measures, such as the one mentioned by Călin Georgescu, a close friend of George Simion’s, to reorganise society on the basis of organisation by guilds rather than trade unions, seem to respond, in an extreme way, to the need for change. Change, however, cannot be brought about by policies that apply repressive measures and ignore the interests and needs of those who work, subordinating them to the interests of capital. Although they do so in different guises, both candidates represent and serve the established order.
The far-right candidate is a malleable character who is ready to cater to the needs of one section or another of capitalists. If necessary, he will impose austerity policies and find scapegoats, just like his opponent. Let’s remember in 2023, when he visited a ruffles factory in Oradea, in which he claimed that the owner could not find employees because he could not find people willing to work, being challenged by locals and workers in the comments section. It was explained to George Simion that the factory paid barely half the wages of a similar factory in the area. This is repeated today when, during a visit to a factory in Alba, he announced that he would cut the employer’s labour tax ‘to support employees’. We are talking about a policy that continues the destruction of the already underfunded welfare state – state hospitals will be even more underfunded, for example, as will public education, which is already allocated a tiny, insufficient share of GDP.
Nicușor Dan, the candidate who is a fan of austerity policies, offers the continuity of market policies, privatisation and social cuts. As he has shown us, he calls disability allowances ‘unnecessary’ expenditure.
None of them offer a real solution to the needs of the working class, even if they feign an interest in them.
One of the solutions has emerged from the ranks of working people themselves in recent years. Even if not in the majority, there have been proposals to create an independent party of working people. A class party. These proposals were found among the striking teachers in the teachers’ strikes and among the protesting railway workers in the CFR protests of 2023. We believe this is the right direction that can overcome and address existing problems. Just as we emphasised last year in our analysis.
We reject both the reactionary agenda of the far-right, who attack the democratic rights of the working class and are ready to do anything for national capital, and the complicity of those already in power who also continue the perpetuation of capitalist exploitation, but favouring international capital. We call on all workers, youth and oppressed people:
Resist the divisive and oppressive policies of the far right. The victory of such policies would mean a dangerous rollback of democratic rights and social protections.
Reject the false promises of the neoliberal right. Their policies will deepen poverty among working people and create more insecurity.
Let’s build an independent working class force. It is only through grassroots, bottom-up organisation, solidarity and class struggle that we can challenge the current order and create a society in which man is truly free, no longer exploiting man on man.
What we will do
In the coming weeks:
We will continue to organise educational forums and public discussions, where we will also discuss the danger presented by both candidates.
We will promote alternative visions based on workers’ self-management and international solidarity.
The election in the second round is not a choice between good and evil. It is a choice between two faces of capitalist domination. Our task is to build a movement beyond this limited political horizon. A movement that puts the needs and power of working people, the majority of society, at the centre.
Voting against the reactionaries can only delay their capture of the state apparatus, but it cannot stop it, because the challenger promises to further reproduce the society from which these far-right tendencies arise as an expression of its contradictions.
Together, we can resist the reactionary wave and build a future worth fighting for.
In solidarity,
Socialist Action Group (GAS)
05.05.2025
