Basescu Inherited the "Cotroceni Spirit"

President Traian Basescu took over the chief of the state mandate yesterday. Ion Iliescu left the presidential palace, saying that he left as inheritance to his successor the "Cotroceni spirit".

CEREMONY. Traian Basescu became the chief of the state, surveying and saluting the Guard of Honour

The Guard of Honour arranges in a line on the alley of the main entrance of the Cotroceni Palace half an hour before the beginning of the ceremony. The personnel are making the final arrangements and the late journalists are being hurried by the GPS (the Guard and Protect Service). "Come on! Faster! The President is going to get here before you!", says a GPS officer. The new chief of the state appears. Traian Basescu starts over from an end of the alley, bows down in front of the national flag, surveys the Guard of Honour, salutes it and walks towards the entrance of the Palace. On the stairs, Ion Iliescu waits for him. He is wearing his ready-to-go overcoat. Around the former President one can see all his counsellors: Rodica Stanoiu, Corina Cretu, Octavian Stireanu, and some of Basescu’s counsellors: Theodor Stolojan, Renatte Weber, Claudiu Saftoiu. Iliescu attentively watches Basescu’s every step, swallows nervously, and, only when Basescu is quite close, starts to smile at him. The Presidency’s employees gathered around the windows, and the cleaning ladies push each other in order to watch the ceremony through a barred window from the basement.

COLLAR. Iliescu, Basescu and all the former and present counsellors enter the palace, without the journalists being able to follow them. Inside, the ceremony consists in the handing over of a collar President Emil Constantinescu initiated and which is to be passed over from one President to another. The two remain in a prolonged tÃşte-à -tÃşte, and, outside, in the yard, the soldiers trample because of the cold and wait for Ion Iliescu’s exit. Almost half an hour later, on the same stairs, the two appear. Basescu is wearing his suite only, as a sign that he’s remaining "home", Iliescu is wearing an overcoat and a foulard. His co-workers already got out using another door and wait for him at the end of the alley. With a pretty sad face he surveys the Guard of Honour and walks in the opposite way on the same alley Basescu did earlier.

THE BAD THINGS… . In spite of the differences between them after Cozma’s pardoning, Traian Basescu and Ion Iliescu seemed cordial.

AT THE CHURCH. He salutes the employees that applaud at the windows and goes towards the car. He changes his mind and goes towards the Cantacuzinos’ Church. He wants to go inside, but the door is locked so he looks at a marble plaque that reads that the church had been rebuilt by "Romania’s President, Ion Iliescu". "I’ll see you at the Senate", he turns for one last time towards Corina Cretu and gets into the car, walking away from the Cotroceni Palace, the place where he spent 11 of his latest 15 years.

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"FINAL WORDS"

Iliescu and Basescu addressed "final words" one to each other. At least this is what the former President told about the discussion with Basescu from the Cotroceni Palace. Among some "precise" issues, the two evoked common memories as well, as Iliescu said. He was "somehow" nervous, as he confessed, but he said that, usually, he defeats his "nervousness". "Of course, it is a part of my life that is brought to an end. Each ending means a new beginning. I am preparing for the new beginning. It is never easy to say goodbye to a job, to the people you worked with. This is a natural and human feeling, but I have seen a lot of things in my life. This is not something new", Iliescu also said. As an inheritance, he left Basescu the "Cotroceni spirit", and by this he meant open doors and communication. "I told him this is the essential part: dialogue with everyone. The chief of the state has another status than the chief of the party or the mayor and so on", he added. As for his future, Iliescu wanted it to be a mystery. "Are you going the SDP president?" - ask the journalists. "We’ll see, I’m not rushing into anything", Iliescu extended the mystery.