ActiveWatch, another six civic organisations petition President to not appoint someone with military background as PM

Human rights advocacy organization ActiveWatch and another six civic organizations sent President Klaus Iohannis a letter asking him to not accept a person with military background as Prime Minister. "The signatory organizations are asking you to not nominate someone with a military background for the position of Prime Minister. We consider that the requirement during this period is to strengthen the trust between the government and the citizens, and we do not believe that such a proposal will contribute to this need. Mr. Ludovic Orban's resignation as Prime Minister brings about a new political crisis that comes on top of the public health and economic crises. Fortunately, the recent election will lead to the settlement of the political crisis by the installation of a new Parliament and a new government. In this context, we were unpleasantly surprised to see your firm preference for placing at the head of the government politicians who come from the national security zone," the signatories said as cited in a release. The organizations note that the President appointed Nicolae Ciuca to caretaker Prime Minister "without any explanation", and that Ciuca has served as an active army general until last year, and "went into reserve only to formally comply with the NATO standards" that require the Defense minister to be a civilian. "Alongside Nicolae Ciuca, at the top of the shortlist of potential nominees to lead the future government is Eduard Hellvig, director of the Romanian Intelligence Service. This year, the government has repeatedly appointed active or reserve officers to lead various hospitals or Public Health Directorates. The COVID-19 national vaccination strategy is coordinated by a military doctor. We have no intention to question the careers of Messrs. Ciuca and Hellvig, much less those of the military doctors (all men). We are convinced that they have a well-deserved career in their profession, and we have respect and gratitude for the military doctors engaged in the pandemic fighting effort, but we feel the need to remind you that Romania is still a liberal democracy, a civil, not a military state," the document reads. The signatories also point out that the armed forces and intelligence services have "an important, well-defined role", all the more so in times of crisis, but that they are and "must remain" under civilian control. "Or, in the formulas agreed by you, the civil institutions fall under the influence of the army and the secret services. The Romanian society is going through a period where it needs social peace and a relationship based on trust and respect between citizens and rulers. The appointment of a Prime Minister with a military background foreshadows a setback in the relations of the authorities with the citizen. Symbolically, the mentality inherited from communism keeps the citizen in a position inferior to the public authority, while the Romanian civil society's efforts for three decades now have been for putting the representatives of 'the Power' in the service of the citizen," the letter states. The signatory organizations remark that the "most visible flaws in the functioning" of the successive governments were related to the lack of decision-making transparency. "It is clear to us that keeping their activity transparent is the last concern of a former army general or a former secret service director. A military Prime Minister will not help us feel like partners in the act of governing, but as authority-governed people who are required to obey without commenting the rules imposed with no public consultation. We are convinced that the National Liberal Party, which leads the majority emerged from election, still has democratically elected civilian politicians who have the desire and competence to take the responsibility of Prime Minister," the civic organizations argue. Signing the document alongside ActiveWatch are: the CIVICA Association, the 'Spiritual Militia' Association, the 'Rise OUT' Association for the Defense of Minority Rights, the Center for Public Innovation, the Resource Center for Public Participation 'CeRe', the Romanian Peace Action, Research and Training Institute - PATRIR. AGERPRES (RO - author: Irinela Visan, editor: Florin Marin; EN - author: Simona Klodnischi, editor: Simona Iacob)