Bolojan Refuses to Leave Office, Sets Up Desk in Victoria Palace Lobby and Offers to Govern Romania From a Folding Chair
Romania's outgoing prime minister has declared his term merely 'paused,' moving a folding chair, a thermos and a stack of ministerial pens into the lobby of Victoria Palace, where he now greets the new cabinet each morning and offers unsolicited advice on how to govern without lies.
Ilie Bolojan has refused to vacate the prime minister's office, relocating his entire operation to a folding chair in the lobby of Victoria Palace, where he now receives ministers at dawn and personally inspects their briefcases for lies before allowing them upstairs.
The former prime minister, who says his responsibility toward Romania «has not ended,» has installed a small desk beside the security turnstile, a thermos of coffee and a laminated sign reading «Governing Differently, Consultation Window, Open Until Further Notice.» New cabinet members must pass him twice daily, and he has begun offering each one a handwritten note of advice on public funds, delivered with a respectful nod.
«My term has ended, but my responsibility has not,» Bolojan told reporters from the chair, which he has bolted to the marble floor for stability. «I proved it is possible to govern differently. I am now proving it is possible to govern from a chair in the lobby, which is harder, because the draft is considerable.»
The arrangement has expanded rapidly. By Thursday, Bolojan had recruited two former advisers to hold his thermos and a third to stand at the elevator bank announcing which ministers had shown sufficient respect for citizens that morning. Staff at Victoria Palace have rerouted the cleaning carts around him, and the new government's first cabinet meeting was delayed by nine minutes while Bolojan insisted on shaking every hand on the way in.
Officials say the chair will remain until further notice. Bolojan has requested a second chair, for the country.
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