Scorning the public at its best. Time for prison inmates, but not for drafting a national budget

After blowing the economy to pieces with their « greed tax », Vilcov and Dragnea – the true heads of the government – went away on a long vacation. A well deserved break, surely, given how much they have worked for the country. They left behind their lieutenants to howl away about abuses, the parallel state and the dreary the conditions of prisons. No word from PSD about the 2019 budget, despite blockages in the administration, despite the fact that Romania holds the EU presidency and the fact that the government claims serious concern for the fate of the European Union.

The truth is that we have become the shame of Europe. The disdain for this government and this Parliament was apparent in last week’s European Parliament debate, when most MEPs have made no effort to conceal their concern over the goals and methods of the powers that be in Bucharest.

But let us get back to our matters. We are at the end of January and the government, deprived of Dragnea and Vîlcov’s wise guidance, did not even present a draft budget for 2019. We have no official clue about the construction of the budget, about the major investment axes, about the inherent giveaways to eb expected in a double electoral year. In the absence of the budget, the activity of many public institutions or companies is partially blocked – as they can not conclude long-term contracts, they do not know their budget allocations, etc.

Instead, tthe power’s stooges continue an absurd war agains the economy, the National Bank, multinationals and state-owned energy companies.

A word about state-owned energy companies. They are the obvious victims of both the « greed tax » (which imposed a new 2% tax on turnover), but also the ANRE project, through which they will be obliged to sell their production inexpensively to suppliers. This is not a coincidence: the PSD has a clear plan to devalue the energy giants in order to avenge itself on ALDE, which does not yield in any way the Ministry of Energy, the manager of these big companies. The same key provides a reading to Dragnea’s intention to create the grand Sovereign Fund, which, in reality, is a pathetic attempt to pull out the energy companies from under ALDE rule.

Who is losing out of this political war? The energy companies left without investment and development money, not to mention left with poor management of the people now controlled by the party of Tariceanu and Chiţoiu.

I do not know that there has been a state in recent EU history to take over the rotating presidency of the Council without a budget.Romania acts chaotically both internally and externally, much like a headless chicken. The government’s priorities for the EU presidency are a collection of small platitudes and goals, with no creativity and originality.

On top of it all, PM Dăncilă and Minister Teodorovici talk about the necessary consensus for the adoption of the EU budget for the period 2021-2027. How credible can they appear to be when the truth is they dare not publish the draft budget in the absence of their masters, who are on holidays, at the beach with friends?

But it is not only Dragnea and Vîlcov’s absence that stops them from adopting the budget in government and sending it to Parliament. It takes a lot of creativity, ie inflated revenue and hidden spending to design the 2019 budget with a deficit below 3%. Calculations do not match despite all the overestimations attempted in forecasting the revenue. The imminence of new taxes in 2019 is obvious, as significant salary and pension increases have to be offset.

Next week is probably the right time to publish the draft budget : there is a mini holiday for the public and students, the cities will be empty, the Prahova Valley will swarm with tourists, which is the perfect timing for a budget project full of shortcomings. Just as they did with the „greed tax” adopted at Christmas.

Until then, in order to divert attention from the real budget and economy problem, PSD and ALDE produce various smoke screens. Helped by a captive Constitutional Court, the powers that be are trying to confiscate the public agenda and impose the issues of concerns for the high profile criminals. And as the attack on the judiciary is yielding spectacular results, do not be surprised if the attack on the economy will too.

Traducerea: Ruxandra Stoicescu