The parties named in the generic public space “sovereign” – gold, can also SOS Romania – represent, in fact, the far right, explains the political scientist Cristian Pârvulescu. The label of sovereign parties does not explain their true nature. These political formations grow in the intention of voting of Romanians, especially with the help of social networks, based on topics that arouse the frustration of the electorate.
The “sovereign” parties could reach 50% in the future photo parliament Inquam Photos
The three political formations, gold, can also Romania, managed to gather in the Parliament one third of the positions of deputies and senators, making the effort of the pro-European parties for the formation of a coalition. Gold first entered the Parliament in 2020. In the elections of 2024, 4 years away, the party reached 28 mandates in the Senate and 63 at the Chamber of Deputies. SOS Romania and can first entered the Parliament in the last parliamentary elections, SOS Romania with 12 mandates in the Senate and 28 mandates at the Chamber of Deputies, and can with 7 mandates in the Senate and 24 at the Chamber of Deputies.
Recent polls indicate that the three formations, especially gold, continue to vote. According to the latest Inscop data, the parties reach 46.9%, and the formations of the current power obtain 49.9%. In January, at the Chamber of Deputies, the sovereign parties had 115 mandates of the 331 members, and in the Senate 47 of the 133 members, ie a total of 162 parliamentarians.
What is sovereignism
“Sovereignism is a form by which the people manifest themselves transmitting power. All the other forms of limitation of power are suddenly disregarded. The power is of the people and cannot be divided. (…) All institutions that ensure power control are attacked in the name of popular sovereignty. The rule of law is based on constitutional control.” explains the politicalologist Cristian Pîrvulescu, for “Adevărul”.
Sovereignism is not, in fact, the definition that characterizes the Romanian parties that we call today generic “sovereign”.
“In Romania there is no articulation of sovereignism. What they call sovereignism is, in fact, extremely right. They have nothing of the elements of sovereignism. For example, the recourse to religions in defining tradition has nothing to do with sovereignism. (…) It has only the resumption of fascist themes.” explains the politicalologist Cristian Pîrvulescu for “Adevărul”.
The current president of the state, Nicușor Dan, offered in the election campaign for the presidential elections at the beginning of the year a definition of sovereignism.
“I am a sovereign because Article 1 of the Constitution says that the state of Romania is sovereign and then I think we are all sovereigns.” – Nicușor Dan, in the presidential campaign of 2025
“This does not mean sovereignism. It is an ambiguity with which it has played and which is very risky. In these conditions everyone is sovereign. (…) The Constitution does not express ideologies, but it expresses. This is defined by sovereignty, which means the power you exercise on a population and a territory. affects national sovereignty ”. (…) Sovereignism is open anti-European. (…) Sovereignism means a reaction against the European Union, which, for example, <
The roots of the “sovereigns”
The sovereign parties in Europe are, in fact, parties of the extreme right, whose roots can be found in the 19th century, in Conservatism, the political scientist also explains: “We find the origins in the political currents that appeared after the First World War, which represented the frustrations of those who were on the front. Italian fascism, German Nazism, legionarism and so on. ”
In Romania after 1989, the far right was initially represented by the Romania Great Party (PRM), founded by Corneliu Vadim Tudor. “Greater Romania and then Becali. But here we speak, in the case of Becali, of a whole legionary tradition. And Dan Diaconescu’s populism uses these themes in 2011-2012. Liviu Dragnea used them as cynically, but to defend himself. He felt in danger and tried, by using these methods.explains the political scientist.
Why do sovereign parties grow
The political scientist emphasizes that in the case of the electorate attracted in the last years of gold or other sovereign parties, such as SOS Romania or can, it is, in fact, an electorate “Nationalist-Extremist ”, formed over the years: “We have a 30% old trend of 2000, since the elections of that time. This trend is always correlated with different aspects, with economic crises, with difficult times.”
Therefore, “The vote for gold has more aspects than the nationalism they speculate and they want to use. In reality, gold voters are voters who ask to be heard. Their problems are taken into account. Or their problems are primarily related to their economic and social situation.” also explains the politicalologist Cristian Pârvulescu.
The themes used by “sovereigns”
“I use massively the economic and political frustration of those who consider themselves disadvantaged by European integration and develop indisputably in close connection with hybrid war. So as the hybrid war becomes more and more important, sovereignism becomes more important. hate.points out the political scientist.
“But the most important problem is that of immigrants. This is massively used. The fear of strangers”, Which awakens at the level of society the fear of losing their jobs, the fear of people to be replaced, a context in which foreigners are perceived as enemies of the community, and the European Union is accused of favoring them.
“All this happens even after the economic crisis has destabilized from 2008 to 2012, the Western world and has never returned from that moment. People have remained with the sequels of that period.”explains the political scientist
The power of social networks
The power of the “sovereign” parties is in the social networks, which “take advantage” to the maximum, shows Cristian Pârvulescu: “The Chinese tiktok is much more dangerous than Facebook. In Tiktok is the algorithm that determines what your values are. And that is simply because you have been on a certain text, on a certain image. The fact that you have been more on a conspiracy matter makes you already enter the area where you will only receive those messages. This marketing mechanism is a mechanism of political and ideological radicalization ”.
