An exemplary execution

In mafia movies, traitors always end-up dying a painful death at the boss’s order, as a way of making a point to other would-be traitors. The execution scene grows increasingly dramatic as the capo di tutti capi sheds a tear on the shoulder of this long-lost brother while sticking a knife in his back, or he hugs him before shooting him in the belly.

It happened almost in the same fashion on Monday at the Social Democratic Party’s(PSD) „Executions Committee” as journalists began calling these summary beheadings of leaders who not long ago were feasting alongside their boss at the bountiful table of power. Two of these putschists, Marian Neacsu and Adrian Tutuianu, were expelled from the party without much scruple and regrets, with the aim to discourage any action that would challenge the great leader.

It was an exemplary execution, precipitated by threats of the opposition’s new attempt to overthrow the Dăncilă Government by the end of November through a censure motion, by a more and more shaky majority in Parliament, by the voices of some of the local leaders throughout the country, and by a possible plot to dethrone Dragnea from the position of head of the Chamber of Deputies.

The leader of the PSD is no longer interested in the future of the party, the image of an orientally-ruled province that took over in Kiseleff, nor the accusations that he behaves like a dictator and an authentic former Securitate agent, tracking step-by-step his rivals inside the party, and recording their meetings, but is now acting in full force to preserve control over the party and the government. If he loses it, Dragnea knows that everyone will throw him overboard in the very next instant, even those who today execute his orders blindly.

The show of force paid results, at least for the time being, as the Putschists have not had the courage of a new confrontation in the Executive Committee. Only Gabriela Firea reminded Dragnea, from a safe distance, of an old Chinese proverb, very well suited for the increasingly „bloody” picture inside the party: “Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.”

Such is the inescapable fate of any political assassin: as the number of victims he claims grows, the risk of being taken out increases exponentially. The PSD’s leader has made so many enemies, inside and outside of the party, that it would be quite difficult for him to fight them all and always come on top.

Traducerea: Ovidiu Harfas