Economist Intelligence Unit: Romania, “flawed democracy”, with judiciary subdued to political pressures

Romania ranks 64^th in the Economist Intelligence Unit’s “Democracy Index 2017“, a report providing a snapshot of the state of democracy worldwide for 165 independent states and two territories.

Based on its scores on a range of indicators within these categories, each country is then itself classified as one of four types of regime: “full democracy ”; “flawed democracy ”; “hybrid regime”; and “authoritarian regime”.

Romania has been ranked as “flawed democracy”, where the mass media is “partially free” and the ruling coalition’s actions are meant to cut the justice independence.

“Romania experienced a sharp decline in its score, reflecting continuing attempts by the ruling coalition to weaken the independence and effectiveness of the judiciary and to block the efforts of some bodies tackling corruption. In January 2017 the government tried unsuccessfully to pass an emergency ordinance to decriminalise minor corruption offences. In May the Judiciary Committee of the Senate (the upper house of parliament) introduced amendments to a draft law that would have softened the sentences of corruption offenders. Amendments to the criminal procedure codes that would limit liability for corruption offences are being debated in parliament. So far, civil society has been the main obstacle to the implementation of these measures,” the index states.

Romania posts an overall score of 6.44, grabbing 9.17 points on electoral process and pluralism, 5.71 on functioning of the government, 5.00 on political participation, 4.38 on political culture and 7.94 on civil liberties.

In the region, Eastern Europe continues to present a mixed picture: 12 countries are characterised as “flawed democracies” (the 11 EU member states, Romanian included, plus Serbia); nine have “hybrid regimes” (the western Balkan states other than Serbia, Ukraine, Moldova, Armenia, Georgia and the Kyrgyz Republic); and the remainder are authoritarian states (Russia, Belarus, Azerbaijan and all central Asian countries except for the Kyrgyz Republic). Two countries experienced changes in categories this year. Moldova was downgraded from a “flawed democracy ” to a “hybrid regime” as a result of problematic elections.

“Eastern Europe has traditionally recorded low scores in the Democracy Index. A weak political culture, a chaotic transition, difficulties in creating institutions aimed at safeguarding the rule of law and persistent, endemic corruption create a difficult bedrock for democracy. In some countries the population eschews liberal values that are widely held in western Europe, such as LGBT rights for example, and favours conservative policies and strong leaders. In 2017 the majority of the countries in the region (17 out of 28) experienced a deterioration in their scores. Five countries stagnated and six countries improved, albeit often from a low base. The regional average score fell to its lowest ever level, at 5.40 (compared with 5.43 in 2016 and 5.76 in 2006, when the index was first constructed),” the index points out.

As for the U.S, the index says it has maintained its position as a “flawed democracy” for the second consecutive year, but freedoms are in danger of sliding further.