Romania's minister of family Gabriela Firea resigned on Friday, July 14, after a recent investigation revealed inhumane conditions and abuses at care homes for the elderly. She is the second member of the government to leave amid this major scandal, after labor minister Marius Budai, who also stepped down on July 13.

Minister Firea announced her decision to leave the government in a post on Facebook. She once again denied any wrongdoing and said the scandal was fabricated with the aim of taking her out of the government and keeping her from running for mayor of Bucharest.

"I have been unfairly presented in the mass media for the last 10 days as a fake, cynical person, deaf to the suffering of those around me. God is witness, and all who know me personally, both me and my husband and my family, that this image shown to the public with such ferocity and expense is not the real one," reads Gabriela Firea's message.

"The goal was not only for me to leave the government. […] The objective of my demolishers from many directions is to keep me from running for the Capital City Hall! To no longer line up at the start of the pre-campaign! All the polls show that I would have won in any political formula," the same Facebook post says.

Gabriela Firea then continues: "I decided, with great regret, but determined and with my head held high, to leave the government of Romania. A few minutes ago, I had a meeting with prime minister Marcel Ciolacu in which I submitted my resignation from the position of minister of family, youth and equal opportunities."

She also said that she is leaving the position of president of the PSD Bucharest Organization "for a limited period."

Earlier this month, several raids at nursing homes near Bucharest uncovered inhumane conditions and seriously abused elderly people. The investigation found that many were beaten, humiliated, and malnourished. The local media nicknamed these centers "the horror care homes."

The scandal not only outraged the public but also reached the government, with political leaders passing the blame. However, the prime minister asked for nationwide checks after the initial investigation's findings, which led to several such centers being closed or fined. In addition, several managers of responsible institutions have been fired.

Gabriela Firea, who is married to the mayor of Voluntari - where some of the care homes are located, rejected any connection with the activity of the care homes and said that she had no controlling authority. In a press release, the ministry informed that one of her close relatives was part of the management of the association that managed the centers' activity, but she gave up this position before becoming the minister's advisor, Biziday.ro reported.

Meanwhile, the media also uncovered connections between Gabriela Firea and Ștefan Godei, the owner of the "horror care homes." Buletin de București revealed that Godei worked as a driver at the Bucharest City Hall between July 1, 2016, and December 1, 2021. In addition, Digi24 also published a document saying he also worked in Firea's senator's cabinet and at the FC Voluntari football club.

At the same time, another investigation published by Centrului de Investigații Media and Buletin de București showed that Nela Vica Andries, formerly Vrânceanu, Gabriela Firea's sister, was head of the local Social Assistance in Voluntari at the very time when the abuses were taking place.

Gabriela Firea, a member of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), has been minister of family since November 2021. From 2016 to 2020, she was the general mayor of Bucharest.

irina.marica@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea)