Georgescu says he accomplished his mission, but we ended up with division

The presidential elections of May 4 and 18 have shown once again that the current crisis of confidence in the political class is not just a collective dissatisfaction, but has become a massive social refusal. Given that 5.33 million citizens cast a protest vote, choosing the sovereignist candidate, and almost 7 million voters did not show up to the polls because they cannot validate a political system that seems inert, corrupt and totally irrelevant to the real needs of society, it appears that the current political class must be completely reformed.

Unfortunately, it seems that the major political parties - PSD, PNL, UDMR and USR - have learned nothing from the lesson of the parliamentary elections, nor from the recent one from the presidential elections. From the signals coming in the last two weeks from the respective parliamentary parties, we note that the current political class has chosen to remain a prisoner of its own reflexes: there are no real signs of reform, no honest intentions for change are visible. At PSD, only Marcel Ciolacu resigned, while Sorin Grindeanu, Paul Stănescu, Marian Neacşu and Olguţa Vasilescu remained in political positions in the party. At PNL, the situation is almost identical, with the exception of Ilie Bolojan, USR seems ankylosed in the leadership structure established four years ago and in the permanent dream for political power, UDMR is a formation whose leadership immobility is one that no longer needs any explanation.

The promotion system within the parties has become a closed circle, in which nepotism and obedience dictate the hierarchies, and merit is an exception, not a rule. The examples are numerous and eloquent: young people with no skills, but with "appropriate surnames”, become secretaries of local organizations, while valuable people remain outside the circles of power. From this flawed dynamic, nothing can result but a discredited political class, populated by mediocre figures, who confirm the general suspicion that the elections are nothing more than a poorly disguised farce. In this leadership vacuum, Călin Georgescu's speech gained ground. Not because he offered concrete administrative solutions, but because he touched those sensitive chords of the simple people, which relate to sovereignty, national identity and dignity. He spoke of a humiliated people, of a nation that must rise from its knees and recover itself. He inspired a part of the electorate not through political promises, but through rhetoric with a novel component. Entire masses of citizens who are not trained in detecting imposture perceived Gălin Georgescu's speech as a message with a mystical message, aiming for a spiritual transformation. In his vision, change does not begin with a government program, but with a transformation in the soul of every Romanian. He refused to position himself as a classical political leader, preferring the position of a founder of collective consciousness. However, this identity effervescence can become dangerous when it is politically instrumentalized to justify authoritarianism or exclusion. The ideas of cohesion, unity and sovereignty have a huge mobilizing potential, but in the wrong hands they can turn into pretexts for intolerance and division.

• What remains after Călin Georgescu

Călin Georgescu stressed the importance of Romania regaining control over its internal decisions, without external influences. He stated that "Romania must be reborn through sovereignty, tradition and unity”, said that "the system and the ciocoi have run out of time and are now clinging to the last of their powers to maintain their access to money and power, but also control over us” and that "there is no East or West; there is only Romania”.

Regarding the return to traditional values, the former presidential candidate declared that "the Romanian people, who stood in darkness, have seen the great light", that there is a need "to embrace our past, to assume our history, to assume our ancestors" and that "the future is not something that happens to us, but something that is built through us, through the choices we make in our souls". He also highlighted the need for unity and solidarity among Romanians, saying that "the Romanian people have chosen to no longer kneel, to no longer be invaded, to no longer be oppressed, to no longer be humiliated". After the first round of last year's presidential elections annulled by the Constitutional Court, but also after the presidential elections of May 4 and 18, 2025, Călin Georgescu commented on the result of the pro-sovereign candidate as "an astonishing awakening of conscience". The expression "awakening in consciousness” has entered the sovereignist language, stigmatizing the intellectual level of this movement, because awakening can only be done in consciousness; since what awakens is consciousness, in what else could it awaken? This cultural infirmity is a sign of the disappointment that awaits us at the end of the sovereignist movement initiated by Călin Georgescu. The value of the idea of spiritual revolution is ruined by the semi-educated character of the leader and the precariousness of the instruments he uses. The support received from some heads of the clergy reveals, among other things, that the Romanian Orthodox Church itself has problems of theological understanding.

Călin Georgescu also stated that "we are all as one”. This is a formulation of moral victory. Through this type of rhetoric, he takes credit for having coagulated a critical mass around the ideas of sovereignty, identity and cohesion, even if the representative of the sovereignists did not win the presidential elections.

Regarding the recovery of dignity, Georgescu emphasized the importance of regaining it, and after the two elections listed above he stated that "we have regained our honor and the dignity of being Romanians, of being wise and just and capable of discernment” and thanked the Romanian people "for their effort, sacrifice and responsibility”.

Călin Georgescu's speech managed to unite a part of the electorate not because it offered concrete solutions, but because it spoke about sovereignty, identity, dignity - values with deep resonance in a disillusioned society. But his rhetorical style, aggressive and often stigmatizing, makes an authentic conversation around these themes impossible. Given that Călin Georgescu has created an image of a messianic figure who comes to inspire, rekindle a flame and then withdraw, considering that his work - the "stage mission” - has been completed, his recent, temporary withdrawal from political life is not seen by his followers and voters as an abdication, but as a ritualistic retreat, in line with a personal philosophy in which the goal is not power, but the birth of a new way of being Romanian.

It would have been logical to summon Georgescu to a dialogue, to discuss these themes openly. But the toxic style in which he treats ideas, and especially people who question them or want an in-depth debate, imposes on us a natural restraint. Romania needs to rediscover its national dignity, but not through division, not through myths of salvation, nor by antagonizing citizens among themselves. This rediscovery cannot be built on exclusion, but on reconnection, on empathy, on real solidarity between people who, beyond their political options, share the same anxieties. True change will not come from a political miracle, but from a collective effort to reconfigure the rules of the game. It must begin from within the parties, by abandoning promotion mechanisms based on obscure loyalties, and continued by regaining citizens' trust in institutions.

The recent elections did not offer us an answer, but a last chance. If we miss it, we risk losing not only trust in a political class, but the entire idea of democracy. And then, we will no longer be just disappointed. We will be defeated, in a silent and irreversible collapse.