A country with 19 million inhabitants and one of the largest diasporas in Europe fails to select a prime minister recommended by a career that inspires confidence. We may be living in moments where Nicușor Dan's choices are irritating, but they indicate where we are placed on the scale of competence in today's world.
- A Romanian specialist, who works abroad, received a discreet question, through economic channels, if she wants an important position in the Government.
- He refused to discuss.
- And what does this gesture say about her. But about trust in the political and human landscape in which he would work.
For the first time, Nicușor Dan promised a government of technocrats, qualified people with robust achievements. Therefore, he nominated an unsuccessful politician, Eugen Tomac, to head the government of technocrats.
The second time, the president wanted a government of far-reaching, wise politicians capable of leading a country of 19 million through a complex crisis. And he appointed as leader Adrian Veștea, an administrator of a picturesque town with 15,000 inhabitants.
It's as if a whole society puts on the left shoe because it can't find the right one. And vice versa.
Vestea's limits
Râșnov is a beautiful place. In terms of population, it ranks 115 out of 319 cities in Romania, according to the 2021 census. In terms of budget, it is also in the area of 100th place. This is the complexity of the problems that Adrian Veștea has encountered in most of his career.
Then, he became head of the CJ in Brașov. Here, to be honest, Veștea has the success of the inauguration of the airport in Brașov, carried out during his mandate.
But its managerial limits, democratic culture and ideas are visible from the first meeting, politicians, managers and investors testify. It is said by people who worked with him or who met him in various situations.
“In a few days, we will find out who Vestea is. Let's wait for the first public appearances”
The test of the upcoming public days will be difficult for Adrian Veștea and for his coach, Nicușor Dan. A prime minister sits, professionally speaking, in a house with glass walls. At least Eugen Tomac was a man beyond whom one could see the books read.
If in Tomac's case he was forced by the coach-president to throw in the towel, the boxing sign that you admit defeat, what does Dan hope for from the new player sent to the ring?
“In a few days, we will find out who Veștea is. Let's wait for the first public appearances,” wrote journalist Cristian Andrei. Andrei is a professional whom the two decades of the press have taught him to refrain from verdicts. After a life in which he was among politicians and reported objectively about the parties, Andrei knows the level of Adrian Veștea's career.
The liberal is famous for the times when, when needed, he declared himself right-wing and left-wing. And vice versa, as needed. In the theater of puppets in Romanian politics, Veștea is a study of obedient silence.
“Everybody has a plan”
And, then, why did Nicușor Dan make these two choices of characters lacking political strength and without economic competence?
Maybe someone promised the president a plan. He guaranteed that he would arrange the match with the referees. That there is a strategy to make the stands look the other way.
But, in the words of Mike Tyson: “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”
And the first punch came even before the meeting with the Parliament. Our politics may well deserve quotes from Mike Tyson. The level may not be much past boxing.
Because there is something about these “blind days of the president” that we do not avoid talking about.
Where are the solutions?
You will get angry. But, beyond disappointments, betrayals and emotional discussions, how many options does Nicușor Dan have at his disposal in the political class or in Romanian society?
Where are the exponents of long practiced competence and undisputed merit in our politics? Let's think how many “Bolojani” Bolojan himself raised not only in Oradea, but also in the whole country. And let's look for the personalities who entered politics after a national or international career.
Perhaps now it is not only the president Nicușor Dan who is reaping. Maybe this is what our national harvest looks like.
Founder of eMAG
A few days ago, Iulian Stanciu, one of the creators of eMAG, announced his departure from the company. He's getting into venture investing, he said. What risk is greater than joining the Romanian administration?
Without a doubt, eMAG represents one of the great successes of business, technology and organization in Romania and Eastern Europe. It's a service model. Millions of people use it. Not only has it become a business, a brand, but it has innovated in a hypercompetitive field. You're fighting Amazon and the Chinese.
I was looking for a public reaction, not necessarily laudatory, but seriously explanatory of this exceptional career of Stanciu. I didn't find it. We don't know how to talk about success.
A discreet question and a clear refusal
Therefore, we don't even know the top Romanian specialists very well. We cannot evaluate those whose proven merit would qualify them to lead a government of technocrats. There are, from Călin Drăgan (Coca Cola Japan), to Daniel Dineș (UiPath), to the Pavăl brothers (Dedeman), probably hundreds, if not thousands, of Romanians in the global professional elite. I'm in the country and I'm all over the world.
Only we are at the level at which Anca Dragu, head of the Bank of the Republic of Moldova, was contacted, discreetly, through economic channels. For the first type of government, the technocratic one. Would he like to discuss a position in Romania's government? And he refused to count. At least take it into account! And this is not about her, it is about the trust that a specialist has in the political and human landscape in which he would work
Divided between “Bologenists” and “Nicusorists”, perhaps the most serious effect of this crisis passes us by: demoralization. Reiteration of “nothing can be done”.
The plan
Through the low level of supply and because of the low standard of the elections of President Nicușor Dan, our society misses yet another opportunity. It doesn't inspire young people and fewer young people to get involved. And to change things.
Let's say you are a young person specializing in economics, law, science. That you are a mathematician who won the international olympiad and got a scholarship to Paris. Will you return to the country to get involved in civic and political life when you see what is the standard that the president of Romania is opting for?
Or you come back, you fight, you win, and then somebody blows a plan in your ear.
