Power and Opposition: The Semantics of the Official Discourse during the First Months after December 1989

As its title suggests, this article represents a short analysis of the official discourse immediately after the 1989 Romanian revolution. The paper points out the similarities between Ion Iliescu’s and National Salvation Front (N. S. F.)’s representatives speeches on one hand, and those of the Communist leaders in the late 40’s and at the beginning of the 50’s, on the other hand. Surprisingly, there are also a few similarities with the discourse of the executed dictator, Nicolae Ceauşescu. We also tried to underline the nature of the relations between the authorities and the opposition. For the new authorities from Bucharest, the opposition was to have only a formal role. In reality, no real opposition to the official policy was tolerated.