Romania: No-confidence for Bolojan?
The Social Democrats (PSD) and the far-right AUR party have announced plans to table a motion of no confidence against the government of Liberal Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan. The move follows the resignation of six Social Democratic ministers and the PSD Deputy Prime Minister in protest at a major austerity package. Commentators discuss the background and consequences.
Anti-reformist network at play
G4Media points the finger at people in state-owned enterprises who are afraid of losing their jobs:
“The motion of no confidence announced unexpectedly on Monday morning by the PSD and AUR is the product of an anti-reformist power structure that has held sway for 35 years. The same covert networks from the energy sector, which are clustered around state-owned enterprises and other strategic sectors, put the screws on politicians and install or oust prime ministers as soon as they see their interests in danger. ... Faced with looming reforms that would undermine both their own power base and the network behind it, the PSD and AUR have agreed on the shared goal of ousting Ilie Bolojan as head of government.”
No sense of responsibility
The country is being plunged into systemic crisis at the worst possible moment, Jurnalul National laments:
“Politicians are focused on settling scores, electoral arithmetic and a sterile battle for the upper hand in the narrative. … The combination of a fragile economy and a rapidly changing international landscape should have elicited a politically mature response in Bucharest, with reasoned and clear-headed decisions. Instead, we are confronted with a familiar scenario: internal conflicts, contradictory statements, postponed decisions. Politics is no longer seen as responsible action but as a constant jockeying for influence. … It is precisely this kind of behaviour that turns a solvable problem into a systemic crisis.”