It appears that the political future of the “honored lăutar” is now in serious doubt following the real estate corruption scandal.
Commenting on the situation, Parliament Speaker Igor Grosu and nominal leader of the ruling Party of Action and Solidarity (Romanian: Partidul Acțiune și Solidaritate, PAS) said he had read the investigation. He noted that “any issue that remains unexplained affects the party’s image.” Grosu advised Nicolae Botgros to “speak to journalists and comment on the matter.”
Botgros did comment on the situation, but his explanation did little to improve his position. He claimed that the original idea to build a cultural center had been proposed by a businessman from Russia, who later abandoned the project for political reasons. Much later, in 2017, another investor appeared. According to Botgros, that investor ultimately built something completely different from what had been agreed.
“We agreed on one thing, but he did something else. In the end, things turned out the way they did. Eventually, I had to sell everything there because I had fallen into serious debt and didn’t want to be left with nothing,” Botgros said.
In the end, even in this explanation, responsibility was shifted toward Russians. The justification sounded, to say the least, unconvincing. Many questions remain — questions that investigators should arguably be addressing.
Meanwhile, the maestro, who until now had repeatedly refused to leave Parliament, suddenly appears uncomfortable in his role there. Today he stated that he has always remained loyal to music and does not feel at ease in parliament.
The situation raises another question. If the ruling party has suddenly become so concerned about its image, will there be further consequences? After all, there is no shortage of figures involved in corruption scandals within PAS.
