A piece of earth and stone. The key function aimed at by Marian Neacșu, the character who announced shoulder to shoulder with AUR the landing of Bolojan

There are two types of characters in politics: the ones you see all day on TV running around pointlessly and the ones who pull the strings from the shadows. Marian Neacșu belongs to the second category, a politician who does not hold any position in the PSD, but sits at the decision-making table more than the first vice-presidents of the party do. He was in the Parliament, the Government, everywhere, but despite all this he is an unknown, almost an anonymous. He doesn't give interviews, he doesn't appear on TV. But this anonymous always targets key positions in the Romanian state, he is always rewarded.

I met Marian Neacșu on a stone and dirt street. Not on a country road, but in a municipality in Romania. He was in the 2008 election campaign, and the voting system was uninominal. Each candidate had to beat the college to win the votes. Neacșu was competing for a mandate in Ialomița county, a place of poverty on the map of Romania. To get the vote, he promised people that he would pave their street. You would ask yourself why a deputy would promise something like that, isn't it the mayor's job?

Neacșu was not just a candidate. For years he was the head of the county, all the mayors were at his command.

In 2026, 18 years after the promise, the street where I met Marian Neacșu is still unpaved. All with earth and stone. Still on the edge of the world, still in a county of poverty.

However, Neacșu was not at the same point. He won the deputy mandate in 2008. Not only did he win the one in 2008, but the citizens thought he deserved two other mandates: 2012-2016 and 2024-present. In the meantime, Neacșu moved from Ialomița to Bucharest, only his business is in Bărăgan county.

You may be wondering why Neacșu gave up being a parliamentarian in 2016. A court convicted him for hiring his girlfriend in the parliamentary cabinet and forbade him to run for office. It was not his wish, but he was caught by the National Integrity Agency and convicted by a court. It is being rehabilitated in the meantime.

Neacșu also received positions on the party line, but he was always discreet. Vice-leader of the PSD parliamentary group between 2010 and 2012, group leader between 2015 and 2015. Number two positions come to him: vice-president of the Committee for Economic Policy 2014-2016, vice-president of the Chamber of Deputies 2014-2015.

He quarreled with Dragnea in 2018, after being his right-hand man, and moved with Ponta to Pro Romania. “He was afraid that he would end up in prison with Dragnea. He is the man behind the arrest of Drăghici (no – former PSD treasurer)”, say several sources from the party.

He missed Parliament in 2020, but PSD did not abandon him, but supported him for several positions at ANRE. From Parliament he moved to the government. Honorary advisor for the first time.

His name means strength in PSD

Marian Neacșu was deputy prime minister from 2023 until now. He coordinated all economic measures, having an essential role in everything economic policy means. He was the “Prime Minister of the PSD” when the party did not lead at the Victoria Palace, all ministers reported to him.

His name means strength in PSD. For everyone else, Marian is “the good-at-all boy who knows how.” Some say that Bolojan appreciated him for his applied style. Of course, he also has a Masters in “Security and Defense Studies”. He did his economic studies in Craiova, before 1989.

At the PSD Congress in November 2025, I wrote about this character. Find the article on HotNews.ro: “Who is the shadow character of the PSD, who is not known, does not give interviews, but has a huge influence in the party”.

I then asked him to take a picture with Adrian Năstase, the former PSD president. It was not an accident, but a valuable image. Do you know what the binder of the PSD-AUR collaboration is? Adrian Năstase's people. Petrișor Peiu, the leader of the AUR senators, is the former adviser to the PSD prime minister from the 2000-2004 government.

Neacșu did not get any office in the 2025 Congress. He did not participate to get office either. PSD vice president became his partner: Silvia Mihalcea. “Gigi Paris”, Stanescu's man, was elected vice president. Neacșu knew that he did not need positions to have power.

“When you look at the new leadership, you notice that “Gică Paris”, as Gheorge Cârciu is called in the party, is vice-president, while Marian Neacșu, the man who leads the PSD Government, jubilates relaxed between Ponta and Năstase”, I wrote in November 2025 for HotNews.ro

Victor Ponta asked for collaboration with AUR. Adrian Năstase has wanted her for years. Călin Georgescu came out publicly to give his blessing. Olguța Vasilescu and Claudiu Manda collaborate very well with AUR in Dolj county.

“We will make history”, encouraged Neacșu to the Pesedists before the April 20 vote, the one that withdrew political support for Prime Minister Bolojan. The information appears in the text published last week.

“It's the first step,” he continued on April 27, when he appeared alongside Petrișor Peiu to announce that AUR and PSD had joined hands to dismiss Bolojan.

When others run away from association with AUR, Neacșu was there

Grindeanu ran away from this association with AUR. Manda didn't want it. Marian Neacșu assumed it. At the moment, he does not hold any position in the party, Parliament or Government.

The PSD-AUR image begins with Neacșu. After shepherding a poverty-stricken county for decades, Neacșu is seeing results: AUR is in first place in terms of voting intention in Ialomita. That stone and dirt road is still there. Bărăganu remained poor.

Neacșu's family prospered. Agriculture and livestock business. The brother received positions at the center, also thanks to Sorin Grindeanu.

While Ialomița has not changed, Neacșu has arrived, he is a character who targets key functions. In December 2024, his name came up as a possible premiership option.

Neacșu is also thinking of another backup plan, the one that will bring him peace of mind: to become the president of the Court of Accounts. The post will become vacant in the fall of 2026, after Mihai Busuioc took the step to the Constitutional Court.

What function does Neacșu aim for?

Now maybe you can explain PSD's support for Busuioc to reach the Constitutional Court. He had to leave the seat free. Neacșu can become the man who will control all the mayors in the country, all the institutions, a key position for an almost non-existent character.

“Neacșu is as appointed to the Court of Accounts. He must want it,” said several PSD sources before Easter.

Sometimes you don't have to keep what you promised in the campaign. You must create an underground network of power, influence and relationships to control the game. Don't stand out and always stay helpful.

Marian Neacșu survived and developed in a world where many disappeared. Earth and stone are still there. Maybe one day asphalt will appear. And after 20 years, Neacșu will proudly say: I did what I promised! A piece of asphalt at the end of the world.