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One month before the elections, the government and the opposition launched a fierce debate over the name of the future prime minister. Since in the domestic politics, counting your chickens before they hatch is nothing out of the ordinary, it's no surprise that before presenting concrete strategies for an economic turnaround, or medium and long term projects, politicians are squabbling over positions they haven't even earned the right to argue over. The disputes over the appointment of the future prime minister are counterproductive, as long as the potential prime ministers, Victor Ponta and Adriean Videanu, are both being accused of various acts of thievery, from subtle plagiarism to crooked contracts. For potential investors, this kind of characterizations are intended to raise questions over the odds of success of a business you start in a country governed by a politician who is under such suspicions.
The statement of Vasile Blaga, that Adriean Videanu is in the cards to be a prime minister nominee of the ARD, stirred up a storm. Victor Ponta argued vehemently: "What country are they going to nominate him as prime-minister in, Thief-land? Actually, what's more likely is that Mr. Blaga, even though he doesn't seem like it, has a sense of humor. We are not going to turn this country into Thief-land, to appoint Mr. Videanu as Prime Minister. Heaven forbid, hasn't he stolen enough from it? That would really top it all off. I repeat, it must have been a joke made by Mr. Blaga, I don't think he was being serious. Considering how the budget looked according to the proposals of the ARD, I would almost let Blaga form a government. Mr. Videanu, though, I wouldn't, because he is capable of stealing all of the 11 billion like he did with the curbs in Bucharest. We don't want to go into a competition of demagogy with the ARD. When it comes to outrageous lies, no one can beat Videanu, I don't want us to go into competition". The Co-president of the ARD, Vasile Blaga, said that Adriean Videanu could be one of those the ARD would nominate for the position of Prime Minister, but said that the alliance has not yet made a decision on that matter: "Yes, Adriean could be one of our nominations. We haven't made a decision, we don't want to count our chickens before they are hatched. We have made it a goal to reach a score that would allow us to participate in the government, around 30%". As was to be expected, the response from the ARD didn't take long to appear. Presidential adviser Sebastian Lăzăroiu brought up again the issue of Ponta's plagiarism, and how that affects his representativeness abroad: "I don't see Victor Ponta as a prime minister. Because of the problems that he has brought upon himself. Knowing the atmosphere in the PSD, I can state this is 100% certain. Of course, one can appoint him as a prime minister, but for four years after that happens, no one will give him the time of day in Brussels. Even the socialists are unhappy with his plagiarism. They realize it is a burden too. It is possible that a discussion between the president and people in the PSD would lead to the same conclusion: that Mr. Ponta has the issue of plagiarism - in the West, this kind of skeleton in the closet is fatal - and a wrecked credibility. There is also Liviu Dragnea, Miron Mitrea, they want in too, so does Mircea Geoană. I don't think that majorities depend on one person".
Before the appointment of the prime minister, we still need to go through an electoral campaign, which could provide plenty of surprises, including forcing the political parties to sign "unnatural" post-electoral political alliances.
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