The keyword within the President’s speech on the occasion of Orban’s appointment as PM was “inspiration”. This is what Klaus Iohannis wished Orban for his endeavor to make up the Government. A surprisingly poetic word as compared with the hard challenge the Liberal Party leader is confronting, as well as for the collateral risks that could derive from here to which even the President may be exposed.
Five days after the success of censure motion it is very clear for everybody that taking over the power from PSD by the President and the Liberal Party is not going quite smoothly. Most of the hurdles were predictable but not the difficulty to overcome those in which the final decision is not upon the other parties.
Most of the imperative changes promised by L Orban could not be attained just by the Government alone without the Parliament’s consent.
And within the Parliament we still have a majority of the PSD elected deputies together with their former colleagues or henchmen.
Added to this stand the strains about the composition of the new Executive. This is a strain sprung from the conflict given by the Party’s imperative necessity to see its people rewarded with important positions and the society’s expectations that the administration’s leashes to be taken over by incorruptible professionals.
Taking into account what has been going on since Thursday till now, more and more observers of the political life are wondering, why did Iohannis insist to remove Dancila? His first priority is to win the second mandate as President.
Taking into account that the surveys for the presidential elections show him as the absolute leader and according to them he will probably win the elections without any great effort, then, why has he stirred up this yoke?
What was his need of this madness of negotiations with Tariceanu, Ponta and Hunor and other craftsmen of disaster?
Why to expose him to all the critics to surely accompany the future membership of Orban’s Executive and their possible mistakes?
The post possible answer: he has no other choice. Just as he didn’t have other choices within many situations in the past, when probably he would have liked to act differently.
Why wasn’t Dragnea convicted earlier? To this question many of the omniscient critics were whispering, “It suits to Iohannis”. Gaining the second mandate is a piece of cake for him if Dragnea is free.
But when Dragnea was sentenced, there was another question: “Why don’t they knock Dancila off? It suits to Iohannis.”He is winning hands in a walk for the second term in Dancila goes with him in the second tour and this is possible only with Dancila as PM.
But after Dancilas was thrown away too, at the end of a very close ballot following some weeks in which the PSD clique had thrown money left and right to buy loyalty of its own deputies and chiefs of organizations, and also from some traitors from the opposition, the silence has settled.
Since last Thursday on, all the omniscient critics have been looking puzzled at what’s happening and dare say nothing.
Because they’ve remained without any clever explanation to be quickly produced from the sleeve; all they can do now it to chew another question.
Has Iohannis planned to show the hoof regarding the removal of Viorica Dancila or has it been a real strife between PSD and the other parties, where both sides played their cards as best as they could?
This dilemma is very confusing as they have to choose: either they give up a very dear belief that Iohannis has control over everything which happens in this country, or they give up their self-esteem and finally accept they are not as clever as they have thought about themselves, because they don’t seem to understand the President’s actions.
I don’t know if I bring them good or bad news but the problem lies in their conviction that the President is almighty and cunningly.
If this had been true, Dragnea couldn’t have managed to bestride so many institutions, to make a mock of justice, to turn the Constitutional Court and CSM into his own bodyguards, to unbalance the economy, to jam the liaisons with our strategic partners, to block some important investment projects and many more.
The same thing applies, to a lower scale, to Viorica Dancila. If it had been in his power to put an end to PSD catastrophic governance, certainly he would have stopped even earlier the funds drainage towards the PSD mayors, the mockery with unflattering promises such as moving our embassy from Israel to Jerusalem and many more.
The limits of the presidential intercession, so obvious for the last 3 years, can be seen even now when he has the chance to lead a healing process after the disaster produced by PSD and ALDE.
The most important reason for which Iohannis and PNL (the Liberal Party) forced the Government fall is an economic one.
No matter how comfortably it would have been to let Dancila as PM for one more month, as there were more chances for her to enter the second tour, the President couldn’t miss the opportunity to stop as soon as possible the destructive actions of the clique rallied around the PM.
It is clear, now, in the frenzy of loans and quick signing of contracts with suspicious foreign companies, that every extra day of the PSD power brings enormous costs for us.
And it would have cost so much everyone if she had finished her mandate, so that the second presidential mandate for Iohannis would have been compromised beyond redress.
No matter what he would have tried to do, everything would have stayed under the catastrophic signature left by Dragnea, Tariceanu and their henchmen. If we add here the inheritance of a budget cut according to the political clientele, and the resumption of the assault with anger over Justice we can understand that the emergency on the intervention annulled any petty political account.
Unfortunately, though, for Iohannis and the Liberal Party just as they had no choice and had to do everything in their power to cut down Dancila Government, likewise they have no choice now and must negotiate with Tariceanu, Ponta and Hunor to make them vote for Orban Government, so as to definitely get Dancila off from Victoria Palace.
The alternate solution, to force early elections, has a very well known answer. Dancila would remain PM, of course having lower powers, until the new elected Government (following early elections).
And she would go on appointing Dragnea’s favorites to important positions, just as she did last Tuesday with Gabriela Zoana, whom she appointed as State Secretary for Justice.
From this reason, the priority of returning to the ballot in 2 rounds for the local elections (as a favor for UDMR) and the priority to erase the Section for investigating magistrates (as a favor for ALDE) have disappeared from the PM agenda.
The bridge which Iohannis and Ludovic Orban are trying to cross, in order to set up a liberal Government and a victory with the presidential elections seems to be quite narrow and the evils they have to make friends by the end of the next month are black and treacherous.
They cannot step back, but cannot even move forward under any conditions as the fraternity with the evils of the Romanian Politics will cost them a lot during a very delicate moment.
Is there another way? Yes. That of principles. The only thing they can do for the short period of time at hand is that the Government they propose to be identical with the one that Klaus Iohannis would warrant if winning the second mandate.
Nothing could prove more convincingly the good faith, the real and deep attachment to the ideas they promote within the election campaign and the wish to serve the national interest but the support of a governmental team made up of professionals of caliber and integrity. I believe Klaus Iohannis referred to this when whishing Orban to have inspiration. Because he is aware firstly of being judged by his voters, for the quality of the governmental team he will warrant and less for the opinion of Tariceanu, Ponta and Hunor about it. Only this way can they break the vicious circle of the actions imposed by circumstances and can prove they know what is to be done when they are free to choose.
Dan Cristian Turturică is the Editor-in-chief of Universul.net. He has been working as a journalist for 30 years. During the last 19 years, he was the editor-in-chief of ”Evenimentul zilei” and ”Romania libera” daily newspapers, and of Digi24.ro news website. Contact: [email protected]
