The events of the last few days have drawn emotion, attacks and retorts. But beyond indisputable personal merits and prestigious names caught in the vortex of reactions, in democracies the non-governmental world does not align with governments. And deputy prime ministers do not insult categories of people in public service.
The appointment of Oana Gheorghiu as deputy prime minister surprised her colleagues from “Give life”, claims Carmen Uscatu in an interview for HotNews. Those in the association found out from the press, “as well as public opinion, at the same time”, says Uscatu, who wants to quickly clarify the possible conflicts of interest between the NGO and the government, regarding the former colleague.
How Gheorghiu and Uscatu worked
Gheorghiu and Uscatu have an oscillating professional relationship, with good moments and glacial moments, according to several sources aware of the evolution, over time, of the relationship between them.
“Even before Bolojan's proposal to Gheorghiu, the two were in a cold phase of their relationship,” explained a man from their neighborhood, in a confidential discussion. But this is something that can happen where strong personalities work 100 hours a week.
The kind of people who have managed to collect tens of millions from dry stone for a children's hospital do not allow themselves to be aligned in the barracks of a single opinion. “Give Life” is a team. And a team has its internal zigzags and tensions.
It is formidable and unforgettable that, although they are not close friends, Uscatu and Gheorghiu managed to achieve so much together. Not for them, for the community. “Gang” is often made by those who make a combination. Professionals work in teams, not sects.
It's not just corporations that have a right to excellence
Gheorghiu and Uscatu were paid for their work. Their colleagues at the association are paid. But how else? All over the world NGO leaders are hard to find. Their work is complex and emotionally difficult. Collecting money and using it effectively is a hell of a thing. That's why Bill Gates pays the heads of his foundations at the CEO level.
When we populistly say that associations and NGOs must work exclusively on a voluntary basis, we are actually saying that only big corporations have the right to excellence. Which is not true. A lot of highly skilled people work in nonprofits, and success has to pay.
A boss from “green spaces” in the sectors of Bucharest earns better than the leaders from “Give life”. Maybe not enough is being earned on “Give Life”.
The CSM qualifies exaggerated statements as a crime
Another discussion is related to the criminal complaint filed by the CSM against Oana Gheorghiu. The deputy prime minister had said that the money for the magistrates' pensions is taken from the children's mouths. It's exaggerated, it's pathetic, it's populist, but these are not crimes, as it appears from the CSM notification.
The magistrates interpreted the law in an apocalyptic way, as Emilia Șercan explained on the text. Of course, neither Şercan nor I are legal specialists. Maybe we are wrong.
Do those in the CSM really believe, as legal specialists, that the legal resources of the state must be mobilized to pursue someone who made statements inconsistent with his status as deputy prime minister?
Magistrates have a right to be offended, but that doesn't mean it's OK to use their position as prosecutors to investigate the person who offended them. Nicușor Dan's intervention is a balanced one, he put water where others poured gasoline.
Ilie Bolojan hired the second deputy prime minister who reforms the budgeters through disregard
At the Government, Ilie Bolojan found himself with a new problem. But isn't it a matter of selection, since the government is on its second deputy prime minister who speaks contemptuously about a category in the public service?
It is difficult to reform the budget apparatus with dignitaries who rather illustrate “categorical distrust” in compatriots employed by the state.
The first option for reforming the budget apparatus was Dragoș Anastasiu. Deputy Prime Minister Anastasiu had an extremely bad opinion of many of those in the public service. Anastasiu believed that “a third are brought to the piles, absolutely incompetent”, “a third may be doing their job, you have to stick the whip on them” and only “a third are extraordinary”.
Bolojan replaced him. Oana Gheorghiu started strong. She said it was good that Sorin Grindeanu did not come to her investiture from Cotroceni. Sorin Grindeanu is the leader of one of the parties of the Coalition. A government bears the pressure of the votes given to the parties that formed the executive. Democracy is annoying, coercive, but it works.
If you can't work with Grindeanu, stay in the NGO, don't come to the government formed by the will of the citizens, some of whom voted with Grindeanu. Otherwise, we find ourselves governed by Musk or other people who were not voted in by anyone and cannot be held accountable by voting.
From which leadership did Deputy Prime Minister Gheorghiu retire?
In the same belligerent spirit practiced on Grindeanu, Oana Gheorghiu now referred to the magistrates. She used an unbeatable argument: the sick children argument.
Associations dealing with Health issues have this advantage over any other NGOs. Because they raise money to help in a delicate area, that of health problems.
But a deputy prime minister who uses the “money for suffering children” versus “money for everything else” argument is playing a small card. Any expenditure you would counterbalance the money for “suffering children” would seem eccentric. But a state spends money on culture, on education, on energy, on pensions, and this is not money taken “from the mouth” of another field, in the sense of a zero-sum game invoked by the deputy prime minister.
In her response to Carmen Uscatu, Oana Gheorghiu declares herself “surprised” by what her former colleague said and only credits her with a “misunderstanding”. This is so that she doesn't think he wants to kick her out of the association. Glaciality is evident. And safety.
More important, however, is what the man in public office as a dignitary does. Deputy Prime Minister Gheorghiu claims that he retired from the leadership of “Give Life”.
But the governing body of an association is the general assembly, where the man from the Government is still to be found. According to the data available to the public he serves, the deputy prime minister retired from the executive leadership of his association, not from the leadership.
