What the newspapers say: May 19, 2008

Social Democrats in Arad, West Romania break the classic marketing strategies and push their electoral luck for the upcoming local elections with a religious flier depicting their team at the Last Supper, one newspaper reads on Monday. More in the news, compulsory private pensions have started working but lack the necessary infrastructure. And some 100,000 people wondered on Bucharest streets late at night this weekend at the Night of Open Museums in Bucharest.

Social Democrats (PSD) present their local candidates in Arad, West Romania in religious terms, Cotidianul reads. Thus, PSD candidate for the local City Hall Dorel Caprar is portrayed as Jesus with his apostles (his local counselors) at the Last Supper. Judas is no longer there in the picture as he has fled to the Conservatives prior to local elections in early June.

Even though the electoral picture does not make any specific connection with the Last Supper, the resemblance is very clear. Nonetheless, to formally avoid any resemblance, the Social Democrats add name tags to their candidates.

PSD candidate Dorel Caprar said that he cleared this issue with several priests who had nothing against their campaign idea. He added that the idea was very well received by the citizens. Romanian Patriarchy officials do not seem disturbed by the electoral innovation.

Patriarchy spokesperson Constantin Stoica said that the church does not not have exclusivity on religious symbols and that the political campaign with religious implications proves a serious lack of imagination.

However, let’s not forget that over 80% of Romanians trust the Church in the detriment of other political institutions or personalities. Thus, the electoral move might actually just grab some votes.

Elsewhere in the news, Gandul reads about the recently introduced compulsory private pensions which, while functioning, lack the necessary infrastructure. The newspaper reads that the system lacks any coherent organization and so money is lost in the systems.

Thus, the two institutions that act as mediators between the employee and employer have different data even though the information should be the same. The two institutions, Romania’s Pension’s House and the National Fiscal Administration Agency need to complement their tasks. However, due to the heavy load of paperwork this is unlikely to happen.

More in the news, some 100,000 Romanians wondered the streets in Bucharest on May 17 at the Night of Open Museums, Evenimentul Zilei reads. The newspaper reads that due to large queues at some museums, Romanians preferred to have a walk in a beautiful night.

The main purpose of the event, to create a European cultural institutions’ network, was to offer people in Bucharest a special cultural night from interesting museum exhibitions to good food and music.