Wobbles at the top

By V.P. | BUCHAREST

ROMANIA'S political turmoil deepened today when the interior minister, Vasile Blaga (pictured), resigned following a demonstration last week by some 6,000 policemen against proposed cuts to their pay.

The departure of Mr Blaga, one of the heavyweights in the ruling Democratic Liberal Party (PDL), deals another blow to Romania's already shaky coalition, which has a wafer-thin majority in parliament. Party colleagues and opposition politicians alike deplored Mr Blaga's decision, with Mircea Geoana, a former leader of the opposition Socialists, even claiming it would hinder Romania's accession to the EU's border-free Schengen area, planned for next year.

Following last week's police protest, which Mr Basescu described as an “attempt to undermine state security", Emil Boc, Romania's prime minister, and Traian Basescu, the country's unpopular president, decided over the weekend to eschew police protection when travelling by car. (Romanians have since been amused to see footage of the pair sitting at red traffic lights, like ordinary mortals. The president, car-spotters noted, was even driving his own Romania-made Dacia Logan, while smoking and talking on his mobile.)

This decision triggered fresh outrage, with Crin Antonescu, leader of the Liberal party, saying [this and next link in Romanian] that Mr Basescu had transformed Romania into a “banana republic”, where institutions are scrapped and replaced at the whim of the man at the top. Prison-guards' trade unions have issued a mocking statement denouncing the “illegal” decision and saying they are “relieved” that the president and the prime minister have refrained from targeting their activities. Policemen, gendarmes and prison guards have scheduled further strikes for October 7th.

Scenting blood, Romania's opposition is now hoping to topple the government, and even to suspend Mr Basescu from his duties, as they managed, temporarily, in 2007. Mr Boc barely survived a confidence vote earlier this year, and reshuffled some of his ministers to calm the waters.

But this time around the odds do not look great for the Basescu-Boc tandem. A divided party, plunging popularity and workers furious about the government's proposed austerity measures, along with Mr Basescu's announcement last week that Romania may need another loan from the IMF to pay for next year's public-sector pensions and salaries—these are not the signs of a successful government.