Romanian village, a leftwing stronghold, disillusioned with govt

As Romania's government stares down calls to quit over its bid to weaken anti-corruption laws, residents of one small village, like many Romanians, have lost faith in the party in power.

Singureni, a village of 3,100 people about 30 kilometres (18 miles) south of Bucharest, is a stronghold of the left-leaning Social Democratic Party (PSD).

And like the majority of residents there, Ionut and his wife, who declined to give their surnames when talking to AFP, voted to put the Social Democrats back in power.

Now after barely two months, what had promised to be a dawn of economic opportunities and a responsive government has soured to a twilight of disappointment, even despair.

"Here, if we steal a chicken -- I give you this as an example, I don't steal them -- we are convicted and sent to prison," Ionut, in his 30s, said.

"But they could steal 200,000 lei (44,000 euros, $47,500) without being sent to jail?"

On January 31, less than a month after its election, the PSD adopted an emergency decree which critics say would have protected corrupt politicians from prosecution.

The proposed changes would have made abuse of power a crime punishable by jail only if the amount of money concerned exceeded 200,000 lei.

Separately the government wants to release some 2,500 people serving prison sentences for non-violent crimes of less than five years.

The offending decree was scrapped last Sunday in the face of the country's biggest protests since the end of communism in 1989.

Those protests have continued, with thousands flooding the streets this week in Bucharest and other big cities, and now calling for the entire left-wing government to quit.

On Thursday, Florin Iordache became Romania's first major political casualty, resigning as justice minister. The day before, Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu had survived a no-confidence vote in parliament.

PSD has argued the measures were meant to align the penal code with the country's constitution and to reduce prison overcrowding.

- To 'protect themselves' -

Singureni seems a world away from Bucharest. Residents live simply, doing odd jobs in shops or farms, eking out a living on government assistance and raising chickens and pigs to make ends meet. Many others report that family members have had to leave Singureni to find work, heading to Spain or Britain.

The Social Democrats garnered 88 percent of the vote here on December 11, mainly on promises of equal access to education and health, raising wages and public pensions.

One of the PSD's first measures was to raise the minimum wage of 1,250 lei (277 euros, $295) to 322 euros ($343) and pensions.

Now all of those efforts have been undone by rising anger over the decree and efforts to ease up on punishing graft.

"They hurried to adopt the decree," Ionut said. "They wanted to serve and protect themselves" from justice.

The decree "disappointed a lot of people," said Elena Zaharia, 20.

She said her conversations with customers at the grocery store where she works reflected people's disillusionment.

"It's not normal," said a 19-year-old high-school student who talked to AFP, also on condition of anonymity. Like 60 percent of Romanians, he did not vote in the last elections because he felt let down by the choices.

"Politicians are always treated differently," he said.

- 'Respect the vote' -

Despite the fallout, the small town still has its PSD supporters, like Ana-Maria Catalina Enache, a mother in her 30s.

"It's the best party, which has already started to raise government allowances for children, retired people, in order for us to maintain a certain level of salaries," she said.

Enache recounted her problems affording medication and the difficulties retired people face living on less than 100 euros per month.

"Here in the country, there are no jobs, we are practically abandoned," she said. Her husband relies on daily, though irregular, labour jobs.

She said she "can't take it any more with the corruption" but believes that those who protest in Bucharest are being pushed to get rid of PSD by Romania's centre-right President Klaus Iohannis.

Iohannis this week rebuked the government for doing "too little" to resolve the crisis over the decree, but stopped short of calling for its resignation.

"The PSD gained the majority," Enache said. "Let's respect the vote."