Nicușor Dan and Lie Bolojan avoided positioning on the integrity issues of some government members. Asked about the situation of Marian Neacșu and Radu Oprea, the president and the prime minister say that stability is needed.
Nicușor Dan promised a coalition of all pro-European parties to the mediafax photo government
Nicușor Dan avoided a direct positioning, after being asked in a press conference if Deputy Prime Minister Marian Neacșu and the Secretary General of the Government, Radu Oprea, both PSD members, should leave the Government, following the model of former Deputy Prime Minister Dragoş Anastasiu. “In my opinion, we have a coalition in which each party decides their people to nominate there”the president pointed out.
“The situations are not comparable. And there is another aspect. The situation of the two was known from the time of the Government formation. President of Romania could have said then.
That’s why he hesitates to give an answer. Because the next question would be – you knew when you made the appointments, you have initiated this government. So, obviously he cannot comment in one way or another ”explains Radu Carp, professor in law.
“The government cannot survive without PSD” – Andrei Taranu, political scientist
“First of all he needs PSD in government and secondly he knew very clearly that he did not compare. What Anastasiu did was to lie about a situation that I understand that you knew, but Bolojan and Nicușor did not know – please, so the theory sounds.
Now to seek excessively much moral elements in politics, again it is too much. That politics is still amoral. And as you saw that Bolojan said, he looked at performance. What does this performance mean, to be honest, I don’t know. But, politically speaking, the government cannot survive without PSD and then they have nothing to do ”, Explains, in turn, the political scientist Andrei Taranu.
The government depends on the PSD and each party decides who sends there, and the interim president of the Social Democrats, Sorin Grindeanu, has already had a position on this topic:
“There are things for the press that are not new. There are things that are known, which are in the public space. Regarding Marian Neacșu there was this rehabilitation. There were dozens of parliamentarians in this situation, following a decision of the permanent bior that you can do these things. (…) There are things that were in the previous governments.”
The arguments of President Nicușor Dan
The head of state was also questioned on the situation of each of those mentioned. Regarding Radu Oprea, the Secretary General of the Government, who was involved in a tax evasion file, the head of state bypassed the question.
In the case of Marian Neacşu, who has a conviction because he hired his daughter at the parliamentary office, the president bypassed the question stating: “Coincidentally, I was in Parliament in the 2016 – 2020 term and there were several dignitaries who happened the same as Mr. Neacşu happened, the legal provision not, in my opinion, explicit enough to prevent this type of situation, to hire a relative to the parliamentary office. That is my answer”.
Avoiding a concrete response
When asked if Radu Oprea should leave the government, Nicușor Dan made a comparison with the budget deficit: “It would be good for our deficit to be 2%, not 9%. We are in a situation where we have many constraints and one is for Romania to project for financial markets stability. And this implies the participation of all parties and each party decides. You must also have a technical expertise in issues related to public administration ”.
The same type of response, argued by the need for stability, was used before by Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan, who stated the day before: “AWe need to need all the positions of people who have experience and the ability to put in motion reforms, in compliance with the legal conditions. Any man who had at one time an incident or another, as long as he is rehabilitated, can perform his activity if they perform in the position they occupy”.
Dragoș Anastasiu’s departure
Dragoș Anastasiu left the Government after the public space appeared in the public space that he had given bribes for 8 years to an ANAF official, even the former deputy prime minister calling the actions “Survival Break”. He put the pressure for resignation on account of the attempt to reform the state companies.
“There are still many sinecles, it is a place that if you disturb it is as if you put the stick in a wasp. We were expecting it to be a very high resistance, not to be many applause.” Dragoș Anastasiu said.
