Panting already in the CCR – Șoșoacă scandal, PSD was hit hard by the Vicol scandal, the head of the PSD Legal Committee in the Chamber of Deputies, whose husband is involved in what seems to be, according to Recorder’s investigation, a major real estate fraud scheme.
Vicol – a ticking time bomb
Marcel Ciolacu immediately jumped with a lightning legislative project to theoretically close the legislative gap for such practices.
Laura Vicol has been a ticking time bomb from the start, which she assumed for reasons very difficult to understand in political logic. And it exploded in her face at the worst possible moment.
Including Mrs. Vicol on the PSD list for the Chamber of Deputies and then supporting her for the key position in the Legal Committee sparked vehement reactions from civil society at the time. The role of a lawyer in the judicial system is essential, and only an illiterate in the field would consider this profession inherently guilty.
However, Mrs. Vicol's profile was highly questionable. In addition to specializing in defending criminals like the Cămătaru clan, she also had a controversial entourage - the goddaughter of the convicted and fugitive SRI officer Daniel Dragomir, conversations with Marian Bejan (pimping, blackmail, attempted murder, and money laundering) in which she is extremely submissive, propelled into politics by Sebastian Ghiță's party.
Why did Marcel Ciolacu take on such a thing? It is not excluded that as the scandal evolves, we will find out, but in the political world, there is talk about the substantial investments of the Vicol-Ciorbă family (Nordis) in the lady's career. With or without such investments, PSD and Marcel Ciolacu pay the price for defying public opinion and common sense.
PNL - the Voineag boomerang and the Vosganian pit
Perhaps to cover the Vicol scandal (if DNA were not led by Marius Voineag, the hypothesis would be much less likely), the anti-corruption prosecutor's office launched the Tătaru case. Started in April, with documented material evidence until July, it is hard to understand why it was energized just now, in October and on the eve of the electoral campaign, not being exactly a complex case.
From my point of view, the moral promiscuity of a well-paid individual who still collects, even without claiming, the meager money that his distressed patients can afford as a reward is clear.
It is one thing not to refuse the carton of eggs or the chicken that the person brings instead of a bouquet of flowers as a sign of gratitude, and another to take money from people who do not earn in a year what you receive from the hospital and Parliament in a month.
But, from a criminal standpoint, the case is laughable, at the level of a local court. The ratio between the investment in the investigation and its importance is lamentable. Does DNA have nothing else to investigate besides such trivial matters? Does it not have more efficient ways to use its resources?
PNL has reasons to wonder if it was targeted with this case, but, lo and behold, Mr. Voineag was proposed as head of DNA by the liberal Minister of Justice because he was desired by President Iohannis and warmly recommended by CCR judge Bogdan Licu, voted by PNL for this position and one of those who made the decision in the Șoșoacă case, for which the liberals broke (only declaratively) the coalition.
In addition, Voineag had the indisputable merit of blocking the academic investigation of plagiarism suspicions in the case of the PNL president.
Mr. Tătaru's place at the head of PNL Vaslui and the first position on the party's list in this county will be taken by Varujan Vosganian, who returned to PNL through the absorption of ALDE. From bad to worse!
Mr. Tătaru will probably be investigated and judged without obstacles, while Mr. Vosganian was defended by the judiciary through the Senate's vote, which twice did not approve his investigation for acts committed as Minister of Economy. He convinced his colleagues with tears and charm to save him.
Moreover, if the CCR judges who made the absurd decision in the Șoșoacă case are accused by the liberals, they should remember that besides Bogdan Licu, voted by them, there were two more, Stan and Deliorga, voted for CCR by the majority of PSD-ALDE, meaning their current colleagues, including Mr. Vosganian.
All this sulfurous situation could be exploited by USR, if the party had not abandoned its principles. Just when PSD and PNL were distancing themselves from their "criminals," the USR leadership vehemently reaffirms its own.
USR - "criminal" at the top
Elena Lasconi tried, unsuccessfully, to apply a principle once proudly held by USR - no criminals. Back then, for USR, a "criminal" was not only a person convicted of a crime but also a person under criminal investigation, let alone sent to trial.
The USR's "criminal" is Clotilde Armand, sent to trial for conflict of interest, plus a case lost in the first instance with ANI. However, Mrs. Armand is the first on the USR list for the Senate in Bucharest.
Elena Lasconi wanted to remove her, but the party leadership acted as a shield, like the senators in front of Vosganian, and thus USR became the party that opens the electoral list in the capital with a "criminal," while PSD and PNL quickly resolve such delicate situations.
Probably the captive USR electorate will accept and vote. They will pretend not to see and, with the new quality, Mrs. Armand will likely apply the Dan Voiculescu model, meaning dragging the case through the competent courts. But for people who still believe in principles and integrity, it is scandalous and disqualifying.
USR seems to have not understood to this day what it paid for on June 9, what is the reason it has as many MEPs as the Șoșoacă party, and why it returned to the party's initial score, the one from 2016. Of course, it can get even less.