Translated from the original Romanian. First published in Ziarul Financiar.
I keep asking myself: can they really not see what state the country is in? How far living standards have fallen, how depressed people are on the streets, how little trust remains in the political class as a whole, how much purchasing power has collapsed?
I don't think there has been another period since the fall of communism when the political class has been more confused, chaotic, or poorly prepared than it is now.
I have no interest in doing an autopsy of the political class or its work, but I care a great deal about how it plays out in everyday economic and social life. I've been in business since the early '90s, and I've never seen a period this confusing or this demoralizing.
Everything happens only in the name of some urgency that's been known for a long time but ignored until the last possible moment — there's PNRR money on the line, there's the public sector pay law — and it doesn't matter how these things get resolved, or how many different social groups get hurt along the way. What matters is checking the box at the last second. Whether the result turns out flawed or half-baked doesn't seem to register. We checked the box, and after us, the flood.
The idea of governing the country has become more of a gossip topic than a serious responsibility. No one takes the job seriously anymore; tearing down someone else's proposal matters more than backing your own.
The consultations at Cotroceni Palace are little more than casual chats, followed by weeks of explanations but never any solutions, and never anyone taking responsibility. Have you heard either party lay out a governing program, or a short-term strategy?
It doesn't seem to matter to anyone that we're on the border of an armed conflict, with drones now falling daily, that a fuel crisis is coming, that inflation is running away from us, that tourism and public healthcare are on the floor, that we're on the edge of a junk credit rating. What matters is that the two major parties are absorbed in their internal fights, perfecting the art of dodging responsibility.
Until recently we kept complaining that corruption in the public sector was our main problem. Lately I think it's been clearly overtaken by incompetence and a lack of professionalism. Our politicians act as if they're experts in every field, making decisions with an air of superiority and confidence that's honestly incredible — except, unfortunately for the rest of us, they're not experts in much of anything.
Frankly, I expected the President to bring a fresh spirit, ideas for reforming the political class, and above all a real drive to find a strategy for the country — one that would give us a shot at a new start, built on our resources and capabilities, fair taxation of the economy and of labor, and real adaptation to a complicated external environment. So far, nothing. Our politicians are strictly focused on their vacations, their petty interests, and the small jabs between parties that get presented to us as some kind of war reaching its breaking point.
I keep asking myself: can they really not see what state the country is in? How far living standards have fallen, how depressed people are on the streets, how little trust remains in the political class as a whole, how much purchasing power has collapsed?
In conclusion, I hold the political class as a whole responsible for the widespread chaos we're all living through. And if I thought this piece would have even the smallest echo, I would ask them to wake up, to understand the enormous responsibility they carry, to set petty party interests aside, and to get to work. Less television, gentlemen politicians, more actual work.
We've had enough of incompetence and self-importance. Understand this: whether you like it or not, you set the tone for everything that happens in this country, and right now all you're doing is avoiding leadership and real involvement.
I'm asking you as human beings, not as members of parliament or ministers: do you like how this country is being run, how the Romanians who elected you are living? If the answer is yes, then this is our life, and we deserve it, and we deserve our fate and our suffering.
Marian Alecu is one of Romania's best-known entrepreneurs. He developed and led McDonald's operations in Romania, helped build the City Grill and 5 to Go restaurant chains, and now runs businesses in the hospitality industry.
