Beyond the dull campaign, troop deployments are in full swing in anticipation of the autumn-winter electoral season, the decisive one. It is, as already mentioned, the end of a reign and an era. The 10 years of Iohannis are coming to an end, both the president and the parliament are changing at once.
Paradoxically, just at this moment of complete change, what is intensively being prepared is a continuity of this governing coalition. However, it is subject to strategies and positioning.
Somewhat emblematic of the turmoil of these days is what we saw at the National Arena, during the farewell match of the "Golden Generation." Nicolae Ciucă and Nicușor Dan chatted enthusiastically in the stands, displaying seamless cordiality, while the liberal candidate for Mayor was in the bleachers.
Surely, both Mr. Ciucă and Mr. Dan were thinking about the future. Mr. Ciucă, probably convinced to a large extent that the current mayor will have another term, has every reason to aim for support in the presidential electoral campaign.
Nicușor Dan knows that he will need a majority in the next 4 years, and the only chance is to obtain it from the liberals, even if it means bypassing Sebastian Burduja, as somewhat happened at the National Arena.
Furthermore, Nicușor Dan is keen to show the liberal electorate where the real sympathy lies or at least the leadership's bet.
Thus, Mr. Ciucă and Mr. Dan appeared as best friends, even though the liberals portray the current mayor as a failure, and the alliance behind Mr. Dan, ADU, deeply despises Nicolae Ciucă.
Is ADU upset with Nicușor Dan? And if so, it doesn't matter. But most likely, they are not upset at all; on the contrary, as long as ADU hopes to pull the liberals away from the PSD for a new majority. I have no doubt that Ciucă, just like Orban, Cîțu, and Vîlceanu, would have urgently and completely reassessed the situation.
This does not mean that Marcel Ciolacu is idle. There is information that he is careful to cultivate the liberal camp that could take control if Nicolae Ciucă stumbles after the elections on June 9.
And one of those presumed to take power in the PNL would be the former SRI director, Eduard Hellvig. Apparently cultivated by Mircea Geoană, who would also need a piece of the PNL for his Macronist project.
Marcel Ciolacu knows he has minimal chances of avoiding a presidential candidacy he does not want at the moment because it is extremely risky. And the biggest risk is called Mircea Geoană.
Therefore, there are signals of an intense attempt to repeat a surprise extradition scenario from 2009, with Ionuț Costea now playing the role of Nicolae Popa, the brother-in-law of Mr. Geoană.
Ionuț Costea is sentenced to 6 years in prison, disappeared before incarceration, was located and arrested in Turkey. That's where Marcel Ciolacu and Alina Gorghiu went to boost judicial cooperation.
However, the Sultan does not give gifts, and undoubtedly knows the value of the Romanian fugitive. Mrs. Gorghiu acknowledged discussing the issue with her counterpart in Ankara, but also the fact that there is no progress.
The ideal scenario for the coalition in autumn would be a Ciucă - Ciolacu final, and arrangements and probing are currently being made for it. However, all alternative options must be covered.