One scandal, two resignations

Social Democrat ministers for labour and family have resigned over the scandal of care homes abuses.

Ştefan Stoica, 17.07.2023, 14:00

For the Social Democrat prime minister Marcel
Ciolacu, who only came to power recently as part of a rotation government deal,
this was certainly not how he would have wanted to begin his term in office.
Prosecutors are investigating cases of inhumane, degrading treatment to which
the residents of care homes for older persons and persons with disabilities in
a county near Bucharest were subjected.

As
always the case in Romania, the authorities that should not have allowed such
things to happen in the first place were quick to spring into action when
instructed to do so at a political level. A series of checks were conducted
last week at a number of care homes for older persons, persons with
disabilities and children. 2,600 such centres were inspected and 30 were closed
down as a result, while 36 were suspended. Over 200 persons were moved from the
homes for special needs, and several dozens were checked into hospital for
treatment. Medical investigations were conducted on the almost 100 residents
from the retirement homes in Ilfov, where the abuses were first revealed, to
ascertain if they were maltreated. A number of criminal cases were opened so
far and two inspectors from the County Agency for Payments and Social
Inspection in Ilfov have been detained. The scandal of the asylums of terror
also made headlines in the international press, which made comparisons with the
horrors of communist-era orphanages uncovered in the aftermath of the fall of
the communist dictatorship.

A
scandal of such magnitude could not be without political consequences. The
first to step down was labour minister Marius Budăi, a cabinet member who has
kept a low profile and who has also served as labour minister in the cabinet of
the previous prime minister, the Liberal Nicolae Ciucă. It was the second
minister forced to resign who has a lot of political influence, namely Gabriela
Firea, who was the minister for family and equal opportunities, having
previously also served as mayor of Bucharest and who was the head of the Social
Democratic Party’s Bucharest branch. She left the ministry and stepped down
from all the positions she held in the party, but stopped short of accepting
any responsibility in the case. Moreover, she said she was the victim of a
politically motivated attack. The facts, however, tell a different story: the
town of Voluntari, where the care homes were located, has been run as mayor by
Gabriela Firea’s husband for more than 20 years, her sister was the head of the
Ilfov social care system and the owner of the care homes where the abuses were
committed was Firea’s personal driver between 2016 and 2020, when Firea was
mayor of Bucharest.

In
a post on Facebook, prime minister Marcel Ciolacu said he appreciated Gabriela
Firea’s decision to take a step back, but said that as a minister she was not
connected to the care homes. Despite his party’s image suffering some damage
for the time being, commentators believe the prime minister personally stands
to gain from this. Firea could have been a strong contender to lead the party
if she won the elections for Bucharest mayor next year. Indeed, opinion polls
were suggesting she had a big chance to win this race, while now it’s
uncertain, if not unlikely, that she may even run again. (CM)