Harsh reply from the CSM after Oana Gheorghiu said that the special pension system is “a kind of Caritas”. “Just changing the packaging!”

Judge Alin Ene, a member of the Superior Council of the Magistracy, stated, in a post on Facebook, that the statement of Deputy Prime Minister Oana Gheorghiu, according to which special pensions are “a kind of Caritas” that the Romanian state cannot afford, represents “an incitement to class hatred in the form of hatred”. The magistrate was also outraged by the statement made by Gheorghiu according to which the payment of these pensions is made with “money taken from the mouth of a hungry child”.

In a post on Facebook, Alin Ene makes some clarifications “apparently necessary for the new member of the Government”.

“The independence of justice is not an abstract concept, nor is it a luxury “paid from the mouths of hungry children”. It is the foundation of the rule of law, i.e. the foundation on which every citizen – regardless of whether he is a child, parent, employee or pensioner – can protect his rights against any power: political, economic or social. The legal regime of the service pension of magistrates is not a “privilege”, but a constitutional guarantee, established precisely to protect the judge from any form of political pressure, including post-career”, wrote the magistrate.

Ene invokes “other famous sums”

He accuses Oana Gheorghiu of manipulation to the point where it turns into incitement against a social category.

“The artificial opposition between the magistrates and the 'hungry child' or the 'hospital without medicine' is unacceptable.” Building such an artificial opposition is not just cheap manipulation – it is a method of social antagonism, an invitation to collective resentment, an incitement to class hatred in its purest form, unworthy of the office of Deputy Prime Minister. It is a rhetoric of social division, historically used to identify “internal enemies” and to channel public resentment”, claims Alin Ene.

Let's not repeat history, just changing the packaging!”

The magistrate claims that the same type of fallacious argument can be used in the case of other “famous sums”:

“The 1.2 million lei spent by the Senate on scarves and cufflinks with semi-precious stones, the hundreds of millions of lei collected annually as subsidies by political parties, the billion euros allegedly paid for the purchase of excess doses of anti-Covid vaccine, enough to vaccinate two Romanians, the 1.5 million euros allegedly paid for an audience with the Romanian prime minister. All this where they left a hole? Who suffered for these privileges? How many hospitals could have been built with that money and how many hungry children's mouths could have been fed?”, Ene exemplifies.

“When you hold a public office, every word carries consequences and you must show measure, responsibility and respect for the principles of the rule of law. In Romania, the rhetoric of the “parasitic elites” has already led us to a totalitarian regime – Ceausescu used it as a control tool. Let's not repeat history, changing only the packaging!”, concluded Alin Ene.

What caused the reaction of the CSM member

Deputy Prime Minister Oana Gheorghiu declared, on Saturday, on Digi 24, that Romania can no longer afford to have special pensioners, special pensions being, in her opinion, “a kind of Caritas”.

When asked how she would solve the problem of special pensions for magistrates, Oana Gheorghiu answered: “I would send a message to the magistrates – I would tell them that I understand them. It is very difficult to give up something that was given to you. (…) It is very difficult to benefit from this for years, decades and suddenly be told that you no longer have it. It would be difficult for anyone to do this. But I think this was a kind of Caritas. They were trapped in a Caritas, which could not last forever, and people who are pragmatic and rational should understand that. Romania cannot afford to pay this money, it cannot afford to have any more special pensioners. And if that money has to go to them, they can take it from somewhere and take it from the mouth of a child who goes to bed hungry.”

It is not the first time that Alin Ene reacts to statements made by state dignitaries. On June 29, the magistrate posted, also on Facebook, a harsh message to Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan, after he announced the project to eliminate special pensions:

“Under the guise of “reform” and repeating the same lies already publicly dismantled by the Superior Council of the Magistracy, the Prime Minister of Romania flagrantly violates the Romanian Constitution and international standards, disdaining both the jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court and any trace of respect for the principles of the rule of law. In a gesture of defiance, a new increase in the retirement age, an absurd increase in seniority and a brutal amputation of the service pension are announced – all this, just a few months after Law no. 282/2023 has already substantially modified these conditions.

These changes are not just abusive – they are premeditated. The exclusive targeting of magistrates is not accidental: it is a new episode in a politically orchestrated smear campaign designed to discredit the judiciary and bring it under control. Everything, to distract attention from the real failures of the government and knowing that a justice system with its back to the wall can be neither free nor fair”, wrote Ene on Facebook.