If the government proposed by Calin Popescu Tariceanu is endorsed by Parliament, the businesspeople have the opportunity, for the first time in the last 15 years, to do what they have asked the government to do so many times themselves. It is about fiscal relaxation, legislative stability, withdrawal of the state from the economy, and impartiality.
Unlike the change in 1996, the current government starts off with a much more relaxed macroeconomic situation and has more room to manoeuvre. Therefore it can engage in the absolutely necessary reforms in the energy industry, on the labour market and in infrastructure, education and health care investments to a greater extent.
Yet the real stake of this government is the transfer of competence from the private to the public sector. The experience of the past - though in terms of state secretaries only, such as in the case of the PSD (Social Democrat Party) government, did not show that business people actually had a say in the improvement of the public administration. Calin Popescu Tariceanu, George Copos or Adriean Videanu will have to be as strict in picking their team members, in attaining goals and in measuring results as they would be about their own businesses.
Florin Pogonaru, the chairman of the Association of Business People of Romania (AOAR) believes it is good for the future government to comprise a number of businessmen.
"If the main goal of the government is to achieve economic growth, then it is obvious it would be best for the government to comprise businesspeople that are familiar with the business environment issues. Of course, there's a difference between running a business and running the public administration, yet if we were to choose between a theorist and a practical person, the practical person is to be preferred," Pogonaru said. He added such an involvement on the part of the businesspeople was necessary, because the absence of representative symmetry results in legislative asymmetry, as in the case of the Labour Code, wherein the voice of the unions was stronger than the employers'. "The Government has some abnormalities to fix, which affect the business environment," Pogonaru maintains.
Octavian Cretu, the chairman of soft drinks bottler Romaqua says the presence of businesspeople in the government would get it closer to the real world.
"Maybe if the new ministers are businesspeople, they will not be so out of touch with the real world. I have especially appreciated the new Finance Minister who has expressed very pertinent economic opinions. It remains to be seen whether they are capable to putting their current beliefs into effect," Cretu said.
"There being ministers that come from the business environment will allow for a real dialogue between the political and business world. The new ministers can realise how important it is to take information from the business environment, process it, analyse it and back a solution based on it. I hope there will be no more regulations issued that have nothing to do with what the business environment really needs as it was the case until now," says Paul Marasoiu, chairman of hotel consultancy and management firm Peacock Hotels.
sorin.pislaru@zf.ro
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