What Klaus Iohannis is going through now, in great danger of losing the last whim he desired, should remain an essential lesson not only for any future president but also for any high-ranking official from now on: no one can endlessly and without consequences mock a people.
After finding himself with the sacks of the second term in the cart, Klaus Iohannis set aside any trace of scruples and any appearance of respect for the electorate, democratic principles, and transparency.
In the first term, for better or for worse, he granted a few interviews on Realitatea TV and TVR; in the second term, he only accepted a few press conferences, with a military regime for journalists who were only allowed one question, without the possibility of insisting on the answer. Then, he gave up on those as well.
In the first term, the expenses of the president were transparent and at a reasonable level; the trips had a certain justification of public interest, and his presence in the public space was, without excelling, acceptable.
In the second term, the splurging of public money began, shrouded in secrecy, trips started being purely touristy, to the most exotic destinations, and the president almost completely withdrew from contacts with society, reduced to mere formalities.
Also in the second term, he began to behave arbitrarily; the way he imposed PNL presidents and emasculated the party to the posture of a puppet is emblematic.
All in all, without being an exceptional president, in the first term, he was a president within decent limits. In the second term, Mr. Iohannis poured out his entire contempt and arrogance onto the people, apparently repressed in the first 5 years under the pressure of the next electoral test.
He probably thought he had nothing more to fear politically, that there was no need to worry about any repercussions. Well, the extreme arrogance of this belief has not ceased to take its toll in this last year of the term that was supposed to bring him the security of a future high office with lavish protocol.
Let us not imagine that missing out on all foreign functions is completely unrelated to the conduct of the president we were talking about earlier. Embassies have the obligation to inform their own capitals about internal scandals, and certainly, Klaus Iohannis's conduct, the way he treated his people, did not remain secret.
Klaus Iohannis was even publicly criticized in the foreign press for the total lack of communication during his term, which, of course, makes him inadequate for a high position that includes communication in the job description.
His taste for extreme luxury on public money and the lack of transparency in spending it were certainly noted. No one needs such a scandal potential.
He was left with hope for an internal function, a poor one compared to previous hopes, a senatorial term, and a move to the palace he had prepared for himself, with a fabulous settlement, on Aviatorilor Boulevard.
I have no doubt that things were arranged with Nicolae Ciucă and Marcel Ciolacu, the two submissive leaders of the coalition.
What Ruined the Plan?
The fury of the humiliated, defied, and spat-upon people for 5 uninterrupted years. The plans fell one by one in front of the poll numbers showing an immense electoral cost for PSD and PNL without a clear break from Klaus Iohannis.
Marcel Ciolacu changed the first switch, starting with the abandonment of the dedicated law, to the declassification of the settlement for the palace.
For a while, PNL tried to maneuver around, to dodge until the poll numbers became extremely alarming. Without breaking away from Klaus Iohannis, the electoral disaster became imminent.
First, Nicolae Ciucă tried to build a different profile, but the decisive moment was on Thursday evening, at Antena3, when the "king's jester" was sent to speak the words of separation.
Mircea Dinescu, as a supporter of Nicolae Ciucă, with Robert Sighiartău to his right and facing a room where a quarter were liberals, called Klaus Iohannis "the evil jester of Romania" and "a Saxon wardrobe without the drawers where you can find jewels or old letters."
Symbolic is the bowing of Nicolae Ciucă at the feet of Ilie Bolojan, the liberal with the most solid political stature, ignored for years and kept as far away from Bucharest as possible because Mr. Iohannis couldn't stand him.
Klaus Iohannis remained alone and untouchable like a political corpse that electorally contaminates any touch. He lost almost everything he desired from 2025, possibly to lose it all, including the palace, and the legacy he will leave will be a negative lesson, an unrepeatable un-presidential model, a toxic standard.