If the opinion polls are to be believed, Liberal leader and former Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca has a shot at becoming Romania’s next president.
That’s if he wants the job.
First of all, he needs to gets into the Dec. 8 runoff where he would most certainly face the current premier, Marcel Ciolacu, but that’s doable.
On paper, the former general should be running circles around the rest of the candidates. He was the Army chief of staff where he gained a formidable reputation* for pushing back against Liviu Dragnea, the strongman leader of Romania’s Social Democrats, later imprisoned for corruption. He served as defense minister and prime minister, and has a proven pro-Atlantic track record and the best pro-Western credentials** of any of the 14 candidates.
Trouble is Mr. Ciuca doesn’t seem to know it himself. He should be in the runoff, but that’s not good enough_he should be smashing it.
To govern well, diplomacy and good manners are the oil that grease the wheels and win you friends in high and difficult places.
But to campaign, you need to get your gloves off: look at Donald Trump_he had no gloves, a bloodied ear and had eaten the referee for breakfast, even before he performed a KO on his opponent.
Ciuca is acting way too polite and demure for a political race. He’s not going to have a stab at winning unless he gets his political weapons out, starting with Russia.
Romanians are terrified of Russia: it’s part of the national DNA. Some may admire Putin in a twisted kind of way but they don’t want the Russians on their soil.
Presidential races aren’t for the fainthearted and if there’s one thing Ciuca isn’t, it’s lily-livered.
When the Social Democrats were pushing him to sign multi-million arms’ deals with their mates, he resisted. Where’s that spirit now?
Mr. Ciuca needs to tell the voters what it was like on the battlefield in Afghanistan and Iraq, with shells and mortars whistling past his ears. He needs to tell the public what it’s like pushing back against political pressure when your country’s future is at stake.
He needs to remind Romanians that there is a major war raging on its borders that could escalate into World War III, sucking in Romania.
He needs to bring up Russia, the existential and eternal threat that looms large if the war and the world go pear-shaped.
He needs to show Romanians he’s a fighter and is fighting for their future in an ever-more complicated world.
The former general may not be charismatic, but he needs to be tough and show Romanians he’s a warrior with the nation’s interests at heart.
Track record:
*The Social Democrats wanted to sign a deal with Dutch company Damen for four multi-functional military corvettes, but Ciuca refused to step down as Army Chief of Staff on financial grounds as it was more expensive than an offer by French Naval Group.
Strongman Dragnea wanted to sign a deal with U.S company Circinus but Ciuca refused despite political pressure.
** Nicolae Ciucă participated in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. He was the Chief of the Romanian General Staff from 2015 to 2019, and from 2019 to 2021 was Defense Minister..
Ciucă is the recipient of the Ordre national du Merite of the French Republic, Commander rank, and of the National Order of Merit of Romania, Commander rank.In 2020, he was awarded the Legion of Merit by U.S. Ambassador Adrian Zuckerman.
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