For over two decades, the Liberals have held the Ilfov County, a strange administrative unit made up of a series of localities that revolve around Bucharest.
As a result of the intense development of the big city, the county has become the main supplier of land for the construction of warehouses, production units, and housing.
Thus, the communes on the outskirts of the Capital have had access to a huge financial flow, which ultimately created networks of land traffickers, a plethora of criminal groups, but also enriched the mayors of these communes, who have become true barons whose influence has reached a national level.
Hubert Thuma (PNL), 53 years old, the President of Ilfov County Council, is the leader of internal opposition against Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan.
In recent weeks, he has launched a campaign against the current Prime Minister, advocating for his removal and the formation of a new alliance with PSD, similar to the one during the Ciolacu-Ciucă period.
"If the budget law does not pass through Parliament, this means the departure of Ilie Bolojan from the head of the Government," stated Thuma in an intervention on Antena 3, a few days ago.
Chaos in Ilfov
For many, it is almost incomprehensible how such an opposition has been created within the PNL and the reasons why, once again, a party in power rebels against its own Prime Minister. It happened in the PSD as well, when Liviu Dragnea was in charge.
These internal revolts actually indicate that the major parties in Romania have turned into mechanisms for preserving political power in the interest of a corrupt elite.
Hubert Thuma, in his capacity as President of Ilfov County Council, shepherds the most corrupt territory in Romania, where the interests of an extensive real estate mafia intertwine with the waste and human trafficking mafias.
The major issue is that there is no reaction from the central level of the state to limit this scourge, but rather protection for these networks.
In the past three years, I have written 10 extensive articles about major corruption cases in Ilfov - one about the cadastral issue in Mogoșoaia, where, due to the land mafia, people in the commune do not know their address, four articles about pollution, illegal burnings, and the waste mafia in the county, which has increased the level of danger in the entire south of Romania, and five about Chiajna, where the association between the mayor and criminal groups has led to a series of violent attacks, injuries, and the killing of a young woman.
Pirates' Ship
In October 2022, when I documented the cadastral chaos in Mogoșoaia, the mayor was the Liberal Paul Precup, who had been leading the fate of the locality since 2004. In the 2024 elections, he steps down, and in his place comes Florin Răducu Covaci, a former deputy mayor, representing the PSD-PNL alliance.
In April 2024, when I wrote the series of articles about pollution and illegal waste burnings, the mayor of Vidra commune was Tudor Marian (PNL), still in office today, the locality being the epicenter of Bucharest's pollution, caused by a huge landfill that does not comply with legal operating norms, as well as the widespread illegal waste burnings in the commune.
Prior to being mayor, starting in 2016, Tudor Marian worked in the Administration of Cemeteries and Crematoriums in Bucharest.
In January 2026, when I wrote the series of articles about Marina Avram, a 33-year-old woman, victim of domestic violence, I showed the connections between the criminal group to which the murderer belonged and Mircea Minea (PNL), the mayor of Chiajna since 1996.
The aforementioned individuals, as well as other mayors of communes in Ilfov, have been and are involved in endless corruption scandals extensively covered by journalists over the past decades. All of them are collaborators of Hubert Thuma, the majority of them being Liberals.
Marian Petrache's Toxic Legacy
PNL Ilfov is a party in itself, with no connection to any ideology. It is extremely flexible and gets along well with PSD or any other formation, creating a political mix with a single goal, draining money from the shady businesses conducted on the outskirts of Bucharest.
I was not the leader of the putschists because there was no coup within the National Liberal Party. Obviously, there are things to reproach Mr. Bolojan for. Yes, I reproach him for a certain attempt to userize the party, and this is evident...
Hubert Thuma (PNL), President of Ilfov County Council
Lia Savonea, the President of the High Court of Cassation and Justice, resides in Chiajna, Eduard Hellvig, former head of the SRI, has a residence in Mogoșoaia commune, Florian Coldea, former SRI deputy director, in Corbeanca, to give just a few examples. But in the communes around Bucharest, a large part of Romania's political and business elite live or own properties.
This is the reason why there are no major investigations by prosecutors in Ilfov County, and Hubert Thuma, a faded political leader who has so far operated in the shadows, enjoys a high level of protection.
But Thuma is just a continuation of a political strategy launched by Marian Petrache. He held the position of President of Ilfov County Council between 2012-2020, being the most important and influential local baron of the PNL.
Petrache began to control the county in 2005 when he was briefly prefect. He then moved to the Ministry of Internal Affairs as a state secretary, where he remained until 2008.
Born in Crevedia, Ilfov, he efficiently combined his connections in the county with those in the Government, becoming a real hub of influence within the party.
Generally a reserved person, without trying to profile himself as a leader with national stature, Petrache promoted and created a true network of Liberal mayors who have controlled Ilfov County for over two decades.
Hubert Thuma is the invention of Marian Petrache, who took a step back in 2020 but left in his place a character over whom he had leverage, being a continuator and guardian of the network he created.
It will be very difficult for Ilie Bolojan to withstand this intense, powerful, and diffuse attack from within.
In reality, we are facing an attempt with a high chance of success to return Romania to the gray area, created by former President Klaus Iohannis and controlled by an oligarchy formed within the PNL and PSD.