The mayor of Temesvár/Timisoara has his reasons for keeping the interim chief of the local police (Politia Locala Timisoara) in the game, chained to his signature, which is valid for only a further six months. The deep connection between these two guys – Nicolae Robu, the mayor, and Dorel Cojan, the interim chief – is sealed by 13 signatures, which means that Cojan can wake up in the morning and go to his office for another six months. Yes, this means six and half years of interim leadership for Cojan.
All this is legal. Although it is also legal to invite applications for this high-level position, so others with experience and/or knowledge have the chance to show off their talent, and there may finally be a person who rightfully fill this position, putting an end to an era of “permanent” interim leadership.
When asked why he doesn’t want to invite applications for the job, the mayor said he has a fundamental principle: he doesn’t want to intervene when things are going well. He also mentioned something about groups of interest, so he’s doing everything to keep this Cojan in his position while he is in charge of the local police. That also means that he can control it through Cojan, not others.
As the local Romanian news portal Tion points out, local police employees were sent to guard a long list of the mayor’s projects: They watched the palm trees, the flowers on the Michelangelo bridge, and other relevant stuff Robu initiated in the third-biggest city in Romania.
Things changed, however, with the state of emergency: The local police are now controlled by the Ministry of Defense instead of the local authorities. The wind of change also seriously damaged the mayor’s opinion of how well the local police does it job. Maybe it’s time for Cojan to forget about his monthly paycheck of RON 8,500 (~EUR 1,757) and apply for another job. Somewhere.
Title image: Dorel Cojan, the interim chief of local police. Photo: Tion.ro
