Fear of Being Wrong

The naming of the new SRI and SIE directors brings a natural concern. Many people wonder whether President Traian Basescu would manage to find the right people for the leading boards of the most important Romanian secret services. SRI and SIE are facing a crucial moment. Now, more than ever, a strong sprint in the intelligence area is needed for a total, democratic European finish. The rubbles have to remain behind for a better image in the EU.

The President proved he is an important player in the Romanian political environment. No matter the important issue, the name of Traian Basescu has to appear, even if the ones mentioning it are his enemies. He knows something.

As far as the image is concerned, the most dangerous for a politician is for him to be forgotten, to not be present in the media. When the newspapers write about you every day, even if they blame you, the politician can consider the goal has been reached.

Obviously, the President is trying to encourage the praises from the positive journalists. He decorates them, he eulogizes them from time to time. He gives the critics the ha ha, he attacks them or makes live comments against their statements. I don’t think he is to blame for such a behavior. This is just how I see things happening.

The start of the procedures for naming the heads of the espionage and counter-espionage services reminds an older thought. Traian Basescu might be wrong about these people.

I am not speaking about the fact that his option could be refused by the Parliament. The President himself talked about this. He knows that NLP (the National Liberal Party), CP (the Conservatory Party), SDP (the Social Democratic Party or even GRP (the Great Romania Party) could instantly become the adversaries of any proposition made by the Cotroceni Palace.

The most important problem is the one of the identification of those people with a good expertise in the national security area. I hope the President will not be tempted to make experiments with the country, especially in an area so important for the national interest. Did he think enough about these names, about the responsibility of this choice?

I say this because Traian Basescu has already been wrong about other people in important positions. For example, he easily accepted a political Gaga for the defense portfolio. The disastrous consequences are visible at present. He picked wrong in the case of Gheorghe Dobre, the former Minister of Transport. We could also say the naming of Calin Popescu Tariceanu as the PM wasn’t so successful. There are many other examples. Some place Adriean Videanu in the "Traian Basescu-guaranteed-failures" category.

Of course, there are wise men in his team as well. However, in the personnel strategy area, the present mandate of the President has faced an unprecedented instability. We can recap. He assigned Vasile Blaga for the defense issues, but he left the Cotroceni team to become the Internal Affairs Minister. Andrei Plesu, Renate Weber, Elena Udrea, Stana Anghelescu have also left. Some of these are still close to Traian Basescu. Some are quite close…

The President wants to name civilians for the SRI and SIE jobs. They should express the political orientation of the present Power. It is natural and democratic. We don’t know whether some of the names he thinks about have been proposed by the NLP in order not to have any unpleasant surprises in the Parliament. This is quite possible. However, no matter the names of the future SRI and SIE heads, one question remains: will these people be balanced, professionally valuable and worthy of this position in a NATO or EU country? If not, we will know who made the mistake.