Adrian Nastase and His Separation From Ion Iliescu

The separation between Adrian Nastase and Ion Iliescu would a revolution in the Romanian political system. After almost fifteen years in which the two have formed a tandem for better or for worse, with its ups and downs and after four years of a President - Prime Minister relation, which has been more like a relation between a political father and his son, after all these years and events that bonded the two, their relation is to disappear.

The result of the local elections gave Ion Iliescu the opportunity to tell Adrian Nastase how to lead the party, what to do with the Government, and with all the other parts of his political life. This shook violently the independence of the Social Democrat Party (SDP) president. This is the independence that Adrian Nastase didn’t quite have in these four years since he is the president of the SDP and of the Government. This is the independence that Adrian Nastase wanted so much and he had it almost al the time. But he hasn’t been independent in the moments like the one we are talking about now. In other words, he has never been independent in the hard times for the party, in the times of ordeal, in the crucial times for him and his party.

The fact that Adrian Nastase has resigned today as the president of the SDP shows his revolt against the Romanian President, Ion Iliescu, and against his way of exerting his control upon the party governing and his leader. Adrian Nastase’s gesture is to make this methods disappear for good, no matter what risks it involves.

We have to wait and see whether Adrian Nastase is going to resign as president of the SDP or if he is going to lead his party to the elections this autumn. No matter what choice he will make he seems to have made his mind: he won’t have a political future next to Ion Iliescu.