I noticed recently how the mere mention of Birchall, in a positive manner, by President Iohannis, has caused backlash in PSD and there is even talk of excluding her from that rapidly disintegrating party. One could say that he likes her, but is he just mouthing it? To me, this is symbolic of PNL encroaching in PSD’s home turf and, in some instances, replacing it.

The recent news that caught my eye is Ana Birchall, Romanian PSD Justice Minister until a few days back (whom I –probably!- last mentioned next to Geoana)  being congratulated by Klaus Iohannis (yt-vv, d24-iohmultzm, mf-iohannisrxn), Romanian PNL President, then “considered for expulsion” from her party by the current Prime Minister and candidate for presidency, Dancila (hn-dancilabrchl, pd-dancila).

Is that all that she did wrong? Apparently, she recently investigated Dragnea for having illegally obtained a “prison pass” (hn-brchlcr) and also had some frictions with one PSD aparatchik, Savonea (hn-brchlsvnea). Given her wealth and pedigree, I’m inclined to think that she’s less corrupt than others in that party, which is why she managed to do some real, serious work as Minister of Justice, which created a conflict with the more corrupt elements in that anachronistic political empire aka PSD.

Apart from being indicative of an extreme level of partisanship, this, together with the relatively recent MEP elections, are a sign that PNL has eroded and possibly replaced PSD in some “local baron fiefs”. If true, that’s not progress, because allegiances are based on the same small town corruptive relationships, not ideology or a different political “offer”. In other words, the poorest of the poor and the “budgetaries” or “fonctionnaires” or people working in the public sector still have nothing on offer.

The first sign I’ve seen of this was the Recorder investigation in illegal logging (lumber theft from Romania’s virgin forests) which followed an older investigation by Rise Project. The latter revealed some remarkable connections to an Austrian firm, whereas the former showed that while some crimes in the territory were committed under the [supposed] watch of PNL barons, the big PSD boss didn’t care to sanction corrupt and fraudulent behavior, suggesting that the entire sector is plagued by some pact between infractional groups with ties to both parties.

To conclude, I’m happy that Birchall does a good job in PSD and rather than seeing her excluded, I’d much rather see the party get rid of even more ballast.

..and everybody hates Dancila..

Sources / More info: d24-iohmultzm, mf-iohannisrxn, pd-dancila, hn-brchlsvnea, hn-dancilabrchl, hn-brchllpsd, hn-brchlcr