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For years, Romania has been facing an endemic problem in public administration: the incompetence and corruption of some officials and politicians. These two scourges, far from being limited to certain regions, manifest themselves throughout the country, causing significant material damage, financial loss, and, in the most tragic cases, even loss of human life.
However, an interesting and worrying phenomenon is particularly observed in Harghita county. Here, unlike other counties, incompetent officials and those guilty of abuses not only remain in the system, but are also actively protected by it. This wall of protection is built through political maneuvers, involving officials from various institutions, who keep in positions those accused of serious mistakes or abuses.
This situation creates an alarming discrepancy between Harghita and the rest of the country. In most counties, officials who demonstrate incompetence are dismissed, sometimes even by the same political actors who promoted them, in an attempt to avoid public scandals and damage to the image of the respective parties or institutions. In Harghita, however, the regime is different, more like a semi-dictatorship where political interest dominates and suppresses any attempt at reform or change.
In this context, Harghita County can be perceived as a “state within a state”, where citizens, limited by political constraints, live under constant fear of reprisals for any form of dissent. This atmosphere of intimidation inhibits the development of an active civil society and allows the perpetuation of a system in which incompetence and corruption not only survive, but are even encouraged.
It is essential to ask why there is this divergence between how different counties respond to administrative incompetence and corruption. The answer, no doubt, lies in the power structures and the interest of some political leaders to maintain absolute control over the mechanisms of government, at the expense of general welfare and democratic development.
To counter this situation and remove Harghita from political dictatorship, it is essential that citizens understand that absolute power corrupts absolutely. Political dictatorship inevitably leads to the restriction of rights and underdevelopment. The citizens of Harghita must be aware that, once every four years, the power to change something is in their hands, through the vote they give to the political factor.
It is difficult for many of the residents of Harghita to understand this, especially when only one party has dominated for a long time. For example, at the time when Romania was ruled by the Communist Party, even if a party from the USA against the PCR had been a candidate, the Romanians would have voted for the PCR, either out of fear of reprisals, or because America was perceived as the symbol of a capitalism that destroys people .
While the comparison may seem forced, the pre-1989 reality is unfortunately still relevant today. Comparing Harghita county with Neamț county, two neighboring counties with a similar number of inhabitants, we observe significant differences. In Neamț, there are several political parties in power and authorities that do their job better, while in Harghita, many ethnic Hungarian citizens have been antagonized by propaganda against the Romanian authorities and do not turn to them for help, even in situations extremes. This is reflected in the statistics of calls to the emergency number 112, where, in Neamț, the number of calls is at least twice as high as in Harghita during a year.
In conclusion, the fate of Harghita and its inhabitants is in the hands of the political factor, but once every four years, for one day, it is also in the hands of the people who decide if they want to change something or if they will return the power to the same people who maintain them in the same semi-dictatorship.
IR
