PSD MP Mihai Fifor claims that Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan wants to „disrupt” local public administration through the measures he wants to take, noting that he should focus on an administrative-territorial reform „if he really wants to enter history on a white horse”.
„As he did in Education, where the measures taken not only did not have any significant impact on the deficit but also created chaos and huge tensions in the system, Prime Minister Bolojan now wants to disrupt the local public administration as well. The logic is the same: great sacrifices for people and communities, minor financial benefits for the state. (…) In local administration, the layoff of 13,000 employees means a net saving of only 1.15 billion lei/year – 0.06% of GDP -, insignificant compared to the deficit of over 120 billion lei. In return, the costs are immense: blockages in issuing documents, delays in collecting taxes, losses of European funds and heightened social tensions on the eve of winter,” Fifor wrote on Facebook on Thursday.
He added that comparative data „clearly” shows that Romania does not have an „oversized” administration, as has been scientifically induced in public opinion for years.
„Of the approximately 8.6 million employees, only 16-17% work for the state – exactly in line with the European average, where the share is 16-18% (Eurostat). (…) The legitimate question in this situation is: who benefits from this measure, if the economy is insignificant? Not the budget, not the citizens, not the local communities. It is no coincidence that mayors with very extensive experience, both in local and central administration, such as Olguţa Vasilescu or Emil Boc, have repeatedly shown that it is a hasty and wrong decision, without solid foundations, based on inaccurate figures and situations. And, despite this, the prime minister remains deaf to any serious analysis coming from the associative structures of the administration or from mayors with vast experience in managing communities,” according to the PSD deputy.
According to Mihai Fifor, instead of listening and building real solutions, Ilie Bolojan „prefers to satisfy his immeasurable pride” by making layoffs the „keystone” of his reform idea.
„It’s just that an incorrectly sized keystone does not support the construction, but leads to its collapse. Did no one tell the prime minister this? Or did he simply not want to hear? The real reform, an extremely necessary, urgent and always postponed one, is the administrative-territorial reform. That’s where the prime minister should focus, if he really wants to enter history on a white horse – something that seems to define his existence at the moment, not on measures with insignificant results and huge social and administrative costs. All in all, one thing is certain: the austerity measures must stop. The solution does not lie in collective layoffs and burdening the population, but in reducing tax evasion and stimulating the economy, through a program that emphasizes investments and increasing productivity. A program already publicly presented by the president „Sorin Grindeanu. We grow the economy, reduce robbery, collect taxes and then the budget revenues also increase,” the social democrat said.AGERPRES
