Klaus Iohannis, the incumbent president, whose mandate was extended after the cancellation of the elections that were supposed to designate his successor, is considered responsible for the political crisis in Romania, writes the French newspaper Le Figaro.
„An inscription in blue paint appeared on the fence of the presidential palace of Romania on Sunday. ‘Traitor, leave!’ was the message sent to the head of state, Klaus Iohannis.
On December 6, the courts cited suspicions of Russian interference to cancel at the last minute the second round of the presidential elections, risking plunging the country into the unknown," write Paul Cozighian and Cyrille Louis in the article published by Le Figaro.
The organization of new elections has been postponed, so the president remains in office and has just reappointed the leader of the Social Democratic Party, Marcel Ciolacu, as prime minister, the authors mention.
"Romania is led by an illegitimate president who has extended his mandate indefinitely and on his own initiative, like African dictators," says political analyst Sebastian Zachmann from Prima TV.
Three weeks earlier, on the occasion of the national holiday, Klaus Iohannis apologized to his compatriots. "I ask for your forgiveness because over the years I have made decisions that have dissatisfied you and which, most likely, I have not explained sufficiently," he said.
By placing the far-right candidate Călin Georgescu at the top of the first round of the presidential elections, Romanian voters sent their leaders an unambiguous message of rejection.
However, "the mea culpa of President Iohannis came too late to absolve him of his political and moral responsibility in such a serious crisis," considers Silvia Marton, a professor of political science at the University of Bucharest.
Iohannis, the lazy king
At 65, the sixth president of Romania is finishing his second term discredited by compatriots as much as he is appreciated by his European colleagues.
Seen from Bucharest, the former physics teacher is considered so distant that his critics liken him to a lazy king, accusing him of spending more time in his hometown, Sibiu, or on expensive trips abroad than in the presidential office.
However, in Brussels, his fellow heads of state and government appreciate his reliability in difficult times.
"Despite the multiple crises experienced in recent years, he has remained very clear about his European commitment and has worked hard to ensure the stability of his country. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about Viktor Orban or even the Polish leaders, who have allowed their farmers to block Ukrainian grain imports at their borders…," said a European diplomat quoted by the French daily.
Entering politics at the end of the '90s, Klaus Iohannis became known when he first won the mayoralty of Sibiu on behalf of a small party representing the German-speaking minority. Re-elected three times in a row, he dedicated himself to the tourist revival of this medium-sized city in the heart of Transylvania and gradually asserted himself in the Romanian political landscape to the point where he aspired to a national role.
In 2009 and 2013, his associates proposed him for the leadership of a government under the authority of the conservative president Traian Băsescu. He rejected it, but Klaus Iohannis was not discouraged. He succeeded Băsescu in 2014 under the banner of the National Liberal Party, a formation that, along with the social democrats, has dominated Romanian political life since the fall of communism in December 1989.
"At that time, I was very proud to see that my country chose a candidate whom his opponents constantly denigrated by insisting that he had no children, that he was not Orthodox, and that he would practically be more German than Romanian," emphasizes former MEP Cristian Preda.
"During the campaign, Iohannis promised to be a 'normal president'," recalls political analyst Radu Magdin.
"He intended to distance himself from Traian Băsescu, whose hyperactivity, comparable to that of Nicolas Sarkozy, had exhausted Romanians. When he came to power, many were happy to have a decent and hardworking president. But, in the end, we will remember above all that he remained silent for a long time…," he adds.
A Smoldering Fury
Le Figaro further mentions the failure of the Education reform, which Iohannis considered a priority of his mandate.
"Who can forgive you, Mr. President, for leaving a quarter of a million children without school?" asks Raluca Pantazi, editor-in-chief of the Edupedu.ro website, in a recent editorial.
"The World Bank announced this week that 250,000 students aged 6 to 14 have dropped out of school, 150,000 more than before he came to power. Under Klaus Iohannis's two terms, public schools have experienced the greatest decline in all international tests and analyses," explains the journalist.
The president's passivity, increasingly noticeable as international tensions have risen, has fueled a simmering anger in the Romanian public, especially after the pandemic, observes Silvia Marton.
"The president, who is responsible for communicating the policies implemented under his authority, remained silent for days when, in February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine. And when an extremist surprisingly made it to the presidential runoff, he limited himself to strangely narcissistic apologies," she exemplifies.
Iohannis's absenteeism on the domestic front contrasts with his activity in foreign policy.
"President Iohannis undoubtedly left himself isolated in his ivory tower," admits the quoted European diplomat.
However, he believes that some criticisms of the president are exaggerated. While at the forefront when it came to supporting Ukraine, Klaus Iohannis had to defend himself against both legitimate reproaches and Russian disinformation campaigns.
Last spring, he made a surprising strategic mistake, shooting himself in the foot when he ran for the position of NATO Secretary General, even though the candidacy of former Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte had already been validated by the member states.
Ten days ago, during a meeting organized in Brussels, President Iohannis's name was removed from the list of heads of state invited to meet with the new leader of the transatlantic alliance. Some Romanian observers interpret this exclusion as a sign of distrust.
Sorin Ioniță, from Expert Forum, believes that Romania is "quarantined" after the cancellation of the second round of the presidential elections. Evidence of external interference serious enough to justify such a grave decision seems to have been considered insufficient by some Western governments.
T.D.