Romanian Senate President, too busy solving society’s problems to stand in line at public office

Romanian Senate President and former Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu has officially admitted to skipping a queue to get his driver’s license renewed. However, he claims that he only did this because a man in his position needs to dedicate his time to society’s problems and can’t afford to waste it standing in line at a counter. Tariceanu thinks that the media coverage of this case is part of a well-orchestrated campaign to move the public attention from the problems of the current Government. Calin Popescu Tariceanu went to renew his license on Thursday morning, August 11. He avoided the queue at the Driver’s License and Registrations Office, where about 1,000 people were waiting to do the same thing, and went in through a secondary entrance to solve his problem before the office opened for the public, according to News.ro. A lawyer filed a complaint at the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) accusing Tariceanu of having received preferential treatment. The former Prime Minister broke the silence on Tuesday evening, August 16, explaining why he avoided the queue. He said he talked to representatives of the Driver’s License and Registrations Office to go there before the opening hours and have his problem solved as he wanted to be discrete and not make an ostentatious gesture by skipping the queue during the office’s working hours. “In any state there are a few important positions where people have been elected to represent the state and to dedicate themselves mostly to society’s problems. This should be their main concern. Not standing in line,” Tariceanu said in a TV show on Antena 3 news channel. He added that there was nothing demeaning with standing in line, but high officials in all countries find ways to somehow solve their small problems, such as standing in line to get their driver’s licenses renewed or buying flowers, so that they can dedicate most of their time to working in their country’s interest. Tariceanu also said that he didn’t abuse the power offered by his position and that he didn’t use a police motorcade although he has the legal right to do this. He also said that he does his own shopping but admitted that his staff takes care of arranging his trips. Related to the large queues at the Driver’s License and Registrations Office, Tariceanu said that it was not his responsibility to fix this, but the Government’s job. He added that he solved this problem back when he was Prime Minister. This is the second scandal of this type involving Calin Popescu Tariceanu. In March 2008, when he was Prime Minister, a police crew was reportedly at his home to take his former wife’s photo for the ID card, according to