After months of Sorin Grindeanu sighing wherever he could out of pity for the impoverishment of Romanians due to Ilie Bolojan’s „austerity,” a baptism party organized by Alfred Simonis, president of the Timiș County Council, took place.
Do you remember, Alfred Simonis is the one who played „truth or dare” on TikTok with Marcel Ciolacu, boasting about how they gave votes to George Simion in the parliamentary elections.
The public appearance of the secret girlfriend of the former Prime Minister of Romania, the one for whom he divorced while in office, sparked great interest from the public opinion. But even greater interest was related to the luxurious and exotic outfit of Sorina Docuz, the former hidden love of Marcel Ciolacu.
She arrived covered in a fur with one shoulder bare, suggesting the return from a hunt of an Amazon queen presenting her prey to her subjects. The prey seemed to be Marcel Ciolacu.
But the exotic fur was the cherry on the cake regarding the parade of social democrats in luxurious outfits at a party that resembled more the one organized by Vanity Fair after the Oscars than that of a humble county chief in Romania, who is baptizing his child.
There is no greater hypocrisy in Romanian society than that of the PSD. In all the leaders' speeches, people's troubles and vulnerabilities are used—from low incomes to health problems—while they display their wealth like Hollywood stars.
This tension between discourse and behavior has become almost unbearable at the societal level, undermining any trace of credibility of those at the head of the party.
There is an important flaw of Romanian politicians that comes from the ’90s, when leaving a dictatorial system also brought a form of individual exuberance, a desire to display wealth and success, things totally forbidden under the communist regime.
This type of cultural provincialism became associated with politics, many seeing Romanian party life as a quick path to wealth and social recognition. If we look around, it is very hard to say it is not so.
At PSD, this phenomenon is much more widespread because, being the party of the state, society’s critical reaction did not matter much, especially since the party leaders have always addressed an electorate easy to manipulate.
In the Controversies podcast, episode 7, I discussed together with Matei Udrea exactly the problems of Romanian democracy that have created a dysfunctional political class.
What Sorin Grindeanu is focusing on after the party
“As PSD leader, I regret the perception created among Romanians who strongly felt the austerity measures of the past year,” declared Sorin Grindeanu at a press conference held on Monday.
“I believe we have the obligation to demonstrate, through what we do, that we have understood this. Our responsibility is to focus on what people expect: better incomes, jobs, and an economy that restarts, and Romanians must see this concern not only in our statements but especially in our actions,” he added.
This speech fragment highlights even more PSD’s hypocrisy; it comes after dozens of other episodes, to mention only the private plane trips paid by Nordis, in which a party leader tries to smooth things over.
But it is increasingly hard to believe that the social democrats’ honor can be saved, as they are perceived as a corrupt formation, uninterested in people’s problems and incapable of solving them.
And this is a statement of fact, not a value judgment. The reactions on social media, the fact that a real pressure was created to find explanations, indicate the intensity of people’s criticism and anger.
Marcel Ciolacu’s fur
“It seems that my 500 euro fur has become 15,000 euros in some reports. So I make a clarification: the real price is 500 euros. I bought it in Istanbul, from Best VIP Leather & Fur, in the Grand Bazaar. I attach photos of the store, business card, and the piece in the workshop, so the information can be verified directly at the source…”, declared Marcel Ciolacu to G4Media.
Besides the fact that, for many PSD voters, 3,000 lei for a sleeveless coat means a luxury, shocking for the general public was the parade and display of wealth at a banal event: the baptism of the child of a local party leader.
The public reaction, which among other things seems to have postponed Marcel Ciolacu’s wedding with Sorina Docuz after the fur scandal, also indicates the lack of credibility and support for the new PSD government.
The complicated situation of democracy in Romania
Since the parliamentary vote, Sorin Grindeanu has been more concerned with finding “evidence” of mistakes made by the Bolojan Government, so as to create content for the “heavy inheritance” story.
Aside from some promises related to the “small administrative reform,” such as merging some town halls, a proposal that was on the coalition government’s table but which PSD undermined at the time, nothing concrete is seen regarding the improvement of the economic situation.
The current government carries the entire PSD ballast on its back; Luca Niculescu has not the slightest chance to detach from the bad image the new executive has.
At this moment, in the current international context, with serious national security problems caused by Russia’s military aggression, a government that does not enjoy, at least somewhat, the people’s trust cannot last long.
About the complicated situation of democracy in Romania and why it doesn’t work, I also discussed with journalist Matei Udrea in the SpotMedia podcast we produce together. Episode 7 can be watched on the publication’s YouTube channel.