On the eve of the D-day of the vote of no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan, the president came out with a bunch of reassuring messages.
So reassuring that you suspect a) he has no idea what is going on, b) he understands, but he has his own agenda; or c) he actually understands and has a trump card up his sleeve.
Here are his messages calling for calm:
- “Public companies have major management problems which need to be fixed so the companies work on economic principles and have competent management” / “This has given rise to tensions. With tact and negotiation between the parties, the issue can move forward.”
- “One or two weeks of uncertainty regarding the political conformation of the Government can be expected.”
- The situation “should not worry us, because there is commitment to the pro-European direction and important issues”.
Regarding the first point, it is interesting what kind of negotiations the head of state is hoping for and where does he think he will find the miracle reserves of tact.
Because PSD-AUR made the issue of public companies a key component of this motion They built an 1990s style narrative about the nation’s economy being hawked off to foreigners. They began their monstrous operation and Ilie Bolojan was made the supreme monster.
In the Senate, the two parties on Monday voted for a law to block the sale of state assets until the end of 2027.
Exactly what tact and smart negotiations is Nicușor Dan hoping for? It is not clear and he didn’t even try to clarify it.
Regarding point 2, it is very vague. Nicușor Dan’s statement, with its emphasis on (only) one or two weeks of political uncertainty seems ridiculous regardless of the result of the vote in Parliament.
Maybe there are chances that the deadline predicted by the head of state is accurate, but only if the motion falls, and the government survives. And, of course, if Sorin Grindeanu is dismissed as head of the PSD, giving the party a more reformist façade. The USR and PNL also need to remain in the coalition.
But this does not seem to be the scenario that Nicușor Dan is hinting at. So far, his goal seems to be the same coalition but without Ilie Bolojan as prime minister.
In the other scenario, in which Bolojan is evicted from his offices at Victory Palace, the two week of political uncertainties advanced by Dan seem even more unrealistic: even if the PNL betrays its leader, and especially if it doesn’t.
By the way, I hope that this ‘one or two weeks’ of uncertainty isn’t a Donald Trump-type reflex who has become famous with talking about “two weeks” for topics that are either too complicated or that simply don’t interest him. I hope without being too hopeful given that Nicușor Dan feel comfortable around Trump (I will probably have the opportunity to develop the subject in the near future).
Finally, point 3, in which the head of state tells us that the situation “should not worry us, because there is commitment to the pro-European direction and to important issues”.
Let’s cut it short: there may be “commitment in the pro-European direction”, even if only on “important issues”, but it is bizarre that the president did not notice that a key element had evaporated: trust.
Because, among many other things, the PSD’s real sin in this motion, is that it violated commitments it committed to in writing: the coalition’s protocol, elements of the governing program, decisions discussed and assumed in the coalition meetings.
Therefore, how about the situation “we should not be worried”, since the commitments have already been ripped up?
And how, on top of that, “don’t worry”, since President Nicușor Dan himself was neither able to prevent the violation, nor did he seem to do anything serious in this regard and did not even alert the public opinion, in a way appropriate to his important position as president, about what kind of squabbles are happening behind the scenes?
All in all, Nicușor Dan mediated and kept mediating until everything around him fell apart, and now all he has to say is that:
- We’ll go on
- Everything will be fine
- Be calm and tactful
It’s hard not to think of the famous advertisement for the FNI pyramid scheme three decades ago: “Sleep peacefully! FNI is watching over you!”
It’s sad even disastrous, to think reflexively about the man behind that scheme, Sorin Ovidiu Vantu when you watch Nicușor Dan!
Leaving that aside, this is the reality presented by respected sociologists and political scientists :
- Romania is at a turning point
- The current political crisis will not die out by itself, regardless of the outcome on Tuesday
- Domestic and foreign markets are already reacting nervously and it’s not just a momentary thing
- There will be a reset of the political scene, in one form or another, in various directions – some may be constructive in the medium and long term, but enough of them are deeply undesirable, at least in the short and medium term
From Tuesday May 5, 2026, Romania will step into a new universe and it is not at all certain that it has the best seat belt to face the forces to which it will be exposed.
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