Romanian media on Monday tries to identify the winners and losers of the most recent scandal that shook the political power structures in Bucharest and saw opposition moves to suspend President Traian Basescu.
The papers also discuss who is really in control of the Romanian energy sector, attempts to evaluate how palpable communism remains 17 years after its fall in Romania, and contemplates the first tree blooming in the unprecedentedly warm capital in mid-winter.
On the political stage, a series of political parties are focusing on finding a way to suspend President Traian Basescu, who they say breached the Constitution when he came out and attacked PM Calin Popescu Tariceanu and the opposition.
The moves are the result of a scandal that flurried earlier this month which saw Basescu come up publicly with a letter of Tariceanu’s two years ago, in which Tariceanu allegedly asks the head of state to intervene in the support of an oil mogul having troubles with the judiciary.
Wondering who the real winner is in the scandal where President Traian Basescu found himself in an unprecedented open conflict with Liberal PM Calin Popescu Tariceanu, Adevarul interviews Transport minister Radu Berceanu from the Basescu-friendly Democratic Party (PD).
Berceanu firmly believes that the winner is the Social Democratic (PSD) opposition, which was thus allowed to promote its political agenda.
The PD and the Liberals (PNL) form the governing coalition in Bucharest.
Gandul quotes the results of a “secret” opinion poll that shows otherwise: Tariceanu lost more than Basescu following the scandal, but the biggest loser is the PSD opposition whose initiative to suspend the head of state was beneficial both for Tariceanu, as it turned public attention away from the original scandal, and for Basescu, because it unified the center-right electorate behind him.
For its part, Evenimentul Zilei reports that while waiting a final word from the Liberals on their move to suspend the head of state, the PSD leadership is already preparing for early elections in autumn.
The same newspaper quotes PD representatives who warn the Liberals they would leave the government for good in case the latter will vote in favor of Basescu’s suspension.
The idea is shared by Cotidianul, which quotes a series of political analysts claiming there was little chance the PNL would support the PSD call for the suspension of the president.
Cotidianul and Gandul also compare the original scandal sparked by Tariceanu’s note to the President with a similar one in Britain, where PM Tony Blair, who according to the British media faces troubles after it was found he allegedly wrote a note admitting the efforts of 12
major contributors to the Labor campaign in elections two years ago, who would be rewarded with noble ranks.
Meanwhile, Gandul quotes Romanian Economy minister Varujan Vosganian who made public on Sunday the market share of energy providers on the Romanian energy market in 2005-2006. The data prove about half of total energy supplies on the Romanian market run through private hands, while the rest remains with the state.
And the paper also quotes Vosganian saying that “no matter how close to the EU, Romania cannot ignore Russia” and that Romania needed a direct partnership with Moscow to avoid gas imports through intermediators. This position comes against a clear break from Russian deliveries, as supported by President Basescu, the newspaper comments.
Elsewhere in the papers, as many Romanians celebrated the birth of late communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, Romania libera quotes King Michael of Romania who says that while “dictatorship disappeared in Romania, communism did not”.
King Michael, who was deposed by the communists in late forties and returned to the country after the fall of communism, warns that many of those who’ve been governing in post-1989 Romania are “people of the past. They changed their political color, but not their way of thought”.
And Evenimentul Zilei tackles the wave of warm weather that affected Romania in the usually very cold month of January and reports that a tree bloomed in Bucharest - which shouldn’t have happened before March. But the paper admits the blooming period is not that close as February is announced as a very cold month.
HotNews.ro, Jan 29, 2007
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