Referendum for the abolition of Ilfov county, proposed by a councilor of Bolojan. Harsh reply to Hubert Thuma's demands: “Fantastic toupee”

Vlad Gheorghe, honorary adviser to Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan, said that a referendum is necessary in Ilfov county for the “assimilation” of the county into the city of Bucharest, with a single administration. The proposal comes after the president of the CJ Ilfov, Hubert Thuma (PNL) threatened to organize a referendum for the storage of waste from the Capital in Ilfov, if the Government will not allocate a part of the quotas broken down on the income tax collected in Bucharest for the county it leads.

“A referendum in Ilfov County must be held. But on the right topic: the assimilation of Ilfov to Bucharest and the creation of a single Bucharest, with a single administration for the entire metropolitan area (…) The abolition of the Ilfov County Council would bring significant savings,” wrote Vlad Gheorghe, in a post on Facebook.

He also cited the fact that “many useless bodies” that function as associations between the Capital and Ilfov would thus be abolished.

“Part of the local barons would disappear”

“And, last but not least, some of the local barons who threaten today, with a fantastic toupe, the blockade of Bucharest if their financial claims are not satisfied”, continued Vlad Gheorghe, with a transparent reference to the recent statements of Hubert Thuma, who is in conflict with PNL president Ilie Bolojan and mayor general Ciprian Ciucu.

Also referring to Thuma's warning that he could block construction permits in Ilfov, if the citizens of Bucharest do not contribute to the Ilfov county budget, Gheorghe said that these permits should be given unitarily at the level of the capital and the county

“The County Council's proposal to stop issuing building permits in Ilfov is also good. The problem is not that the permits are stopped, but that they are issued today chaotically, without real coordination and with large real estate interests. The solution is a centralized electronic system of authorization for all of metropolitan Bucharest, with unique rules, coordination and above all transparency,” the former MEP also claims.

The requests of the president CJ Ilfov

The president of the Ilfov County Council, Hubert Thuma, launched a new attack on Sunday evening against the general mayor of the capital, Ciprian Ciucu, and the prime minister, Ilie Bolojan, in the context of disputes regarding the financing of metropolitan transport and the distribution of income tax. Thuma claims that Ilfovul is financially disadvantaged in relation to Bucharest and warns that he is considering “firm measures”, including the suspension of the issuance of building permits in the county.

“The people of Ilfov are not second-class citizens. Ilfov does not ask for privileges. It asks for fairness, balance and respect in a real Bucharest-Ilfov partnership. Metropolitan transport is not a fad nor a “handout”, wrote Thuma in a post on Facebook.

According to him, the Ilfov County Council sent an address to the Ministry of Finance, the Government and the General City Hall, requesting that 5% of the income tax estimated to be collected at the level of Bucharest Municipality be distributed to Ilfov County, Thuma announced.

“The arguments are strong and simple to understand by any person of good faith. In documents, in Ilfov, we are 540,000. In reality, we exceed one million inhabitants. People who need roads, schools, hospitals, water and sewer, public transport and social services: Many companies actually operate in Ilfov, but they have their headquarters in Bucharest, and the money is accounted for there”, he stated.

Thuma also said that he is consulting with the mayors of the county regarding a referendum related to the storage of garbage from Bucharest in Ilfov.

“Not because of the conflict. But because Ilfovul must be respected and consulted when it becomes the 'backyard' of the Capital. And I say something else, very directly, if the current administration of Bucharest continues to treat Ilfovul as an area 'good only to take over the problems' – garbage, traffic, urban pressure – then Ilfovul will be forced to take firm measures to protect its communities”, wrote Thuma.

Open conflict in the PNL

Leader of the anti-Bolojan faction of the PNL, Thuma accused Ilie Bolojan, at the beginning of the month, of “USR-izing” the party and that he would have deliberately made the liberal candidates vulnerable in the 2024 and 2025 presidential elections.

Thuma also said that Bolojan was part of a plan that made the presidential candidates Ciucă and Antonescu vulnerable, in turn. More precisely, Thuma claims that the polls prior to the 2024 presidential elections showed that Nicolae Ciucă could not win the electoral race, so it was proposed to Ilie Bolojan to run. However, he not only did not want to, but also made unreasonable proposals for the PNL. Then, in the presidential elections of 2025, Bolojan did not publicly deny for months, Thuma reproaches him, that he will be the PNL candidate. All this was premeditated, Thuma claims.