After the consultations at the Cotroceni Palace, the option of a technocrat prime minister is increasingly being discussed, against the background of the parties’ difficulty in reaching a political agreement. From the information coming from behind the scenes of the Cotroceni consultations, President Nicușor Dan is considering two names from outside the parties for the position of prime minister: Radu Burnete, current economic advisor at Cotroceni, and Delia Velculescu, an economist with a career spanning over two decades at the IMF. Both options rely on technical expertise and international credibility.
Professor of constitutional law Ioan Stanomir dismantles the myth of the neutral technocrat prime minister: “He is an actor who enters directly into the game of power, a position that requires political commitment”. The analyst draws a direct parallel between the current deadlock and the Cioloș Cabinet of 2015, born from the emotion of the tragedy at Colectiv and the president’s rejection of PSD policies. In his opinion, the context now is not much different, the stake remains the same: the real ability to exercise authority from the Victoria Palace.
“It is quite difficult, we are in a delicate moment generated by the vote of no confidence, we are in a particularly delicate balance, and obtaining a majority to support a Government is particularly difficult. The emotion since then is obviously no longer the same, but the context is the same as then, it has not fundamentally changed, and the goal remains, to control, through the Government, the power. PSD’s goal is the same to control through a Government, nothing has changed compared to 2017″, declared Ioan Stanomir for “The truth”.
Sacrifice or rise to power?
Although skeptics claim that a top professional, with a solid reputation and politically independent, would refuse to take the reins of the Government at a time of deep economic crisis, Ioan Stanomir looks at things from a different perspective. The professor of constitutional law points out that such a mandate should not be seen as a personal sacrifice, but as a huge opportunity to leave a major mark on the country exactly when authority is most needed.
“Power is a posture of the Prime Minister and the ability of the Government to work with him or her. It is a delicate matter and we cannot anticipate. We cannot know what the majority draft may look like and what the chances may be, we cannot speculate. I can’t even say if we will have a technocrat prime minister or if we will have a PSD government.
It’s a political choice, it’s a career choice, in the end it’s the problem of those who accept, it’s also a problem of having access to power, let’s face it, being prime minister is not like going to a monastery. It’s like running a country, it’s completely different. You don’t isolate yourself, you gain strength, and if you exercise it carefully, you gain even more strength.”
A technocrat prime minister comes with terms and conditions
Asked about the scenario of a technocrat prime minister, President Nicușor Dan explained that he strategically avoided throwing names into the public space. The head of state emphasized that his priority at the moment is the crystallization of a solid parliamentary majority, capable of supporting the future Cabinet, before advancing concrete proposals for a prime minister.
“In my mind, yes, I haven’t advanced them. I haven’t advanced them because I will advance when there’s a majority formula for it.”
After the talks on Monday, May 18, in Cotroceni, the PSD leaders declared that they want to restore the coalition, without Ilie Bolojan as prime minister, and an acceptable option for them would be a technocrat prime minister who would ensure a parliamentary majority made up of pro-European parties.
On the other hand, also after Monday’s consultations, Ilie Bolojan stated that the PNL will no longer support and will no longer participate in a Government in which there will be PSD, including in the situation where the Government is led by a technocrat prime minister.
