The Minister of Labor, Marius Budai, is resigning from his position amid the scandal of horrors revealed by media in the nursing homes in Voluntari. Apparently, Budai’s resignation comes after a discussion he had with Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu. It is the first resignation of a high level official in this case.
PM Marcel Ciolacu announced on Thursday, at the beginning of the government meeting, the resignation of the Minister of Labor, Marius Budai, which he considers a “gesture of honor”.
“This morning I had a discussion with the Minister of Labour, Marius Budăi, who informed me of his decision to resign at the end of this meeting. From my point of view it is a gesture of honor, for which I thank him and I am convinced that this is the natural reaction of a political decision-maker. It is the natural reaction in any consolidated democracy of Europe”, said the Prime Minister.
The Minister of Labor, Marius Budăi, claimed on Tuesday that his resignation in the scandal regarding the horror asylums in Ilfov “doesn’t matter”. After a journalist returned and asked him if he thought for a second about resigning, Marius Budăi answered briefly: “Thank you very much for the question.”
In the first public stance after the horror asylum scandal emerged, Marius Budăi declared himself “shocked” by the situation in the three horror homes in Voluntari and Afumați, but he passed the main responsibility to the Ilfov County Council, which is subordinate to DGASPC, an institution that settles monthly upon payment of the services provided by these centers.
He showed journalists the photos submitted by the three asylums when they applied for the operating license, photographs showing luxury hotel conditions, and expressed his displeasure. The heads of ANPIS and AJPIS, authorities under the Ministry of Labour, were dismissed after Marcel Ciolacu requested this.
The resignation of Marius Budai was requested by NGOs, but behind closed doors, those from the PNL also demanded that Marius Budai leave the head of the Ministry of Labour, source further said.
Meanwhile, new details emerged from the mammoth file related to the situation of the elderly at the horror asylums. Disturbed by the unexpected visits of the representatives of the Legal Resources Center (CRJ) to the premises of the old people’s homes, where they observed the inhumane conditions in which the elderly were kept, Ștefan Godei, the head of the Sfântul Gabriel cel Viteaz Association and – according to DIICOT prosecutors – the leader of the criminal group, expressed his openly wanting the NGO to be shut down.
When he was told that it was not possible, he wanted at least the contract between the CRJ and the Ministry of Labor, based on which the NGO had access to the nursing homes, to “disappear”.
Coincidence or not, less than a month later, the Ministry of Labor sent an address with the stamp of Minister Marius Budai, by which it notified the CRJ that it had unilaterally denounced the contract between the ministry and the NGO.
After the resignation of the Minister of Labor, Marius Budai, the Social Democrats are also waiting for Gabriela Firea, the minister of Family, to step down, as PSD sources told HotNews.ro.
As a matter of fact, PSD leaders are meeting at the beginning of next week in a meeting of the National Political Council where they will also discuss the situation of Gabriela Firea.
“Budai’s resignation puts pressure on Gabi Firea to take a step back and resign as minister. It has been suggested to him from within the party that it is wiser to withdraw before forcing the leadership to ask for his resignation,” the Social Democratic sources explained.
On the other side, Gabriela Firea has repeatedly denied her involvement in the nursing home case, although her husband is the mayor of Voluntari, where the asylums were located and her sister and friends were in charge of the social assistance services in this town.
Firea has constantly claimed she is a victim, blaming her political foes who would aim ”to eliminate her from the competition for the Capital’s mayor’s office”.