Vlad Voiculescu: PM almost never discussed with the health ministry; I thought era of epaulettes was over

Prime Minister Florin Citu almost never spoke to the Ministry of Health and became "the country's epidemiologist-in-chief," recently-dismissed Health Minister Vlad Voiculescu said on Friday, adding that he was wrong when he believed the era of epaulettes was over.

"I think I was wrong in some respects when I expected a certain decency (...) in times of pandemic, decency on the part of many politicians or part of the press; I think I was wrong. I also thought that the prime minister appointed by a coalition in which clear rules had been established will not use the force entrusted to it for reasons rather related to his political career, as he put it. (...) I thought we were past the era of epaulettes, specials, immeasurable privileges," Voiculescu told a news conference at the Parliament House.

According to him, "if you disturb certain privileges, the system will act against you."

"The opening of schools (...) turned into a continuously shifting the blame to the Ministry of Health, with the prime minister of Romania almost never discussing with the Ministry of Health, the prime minister of Romania setting targets without talking to anyone prior, the prime minister of Romania becoming the epidemiologist-in-chief of the country, talking about things he did not know, about things he did not consult with the specialist committees or experts," said Voiculescu.