POLITICS - December 16th 2004
Incumbent PM Adrian Nastase avoided making public statements after losing the presidential race on Sunday, except the speech in which he accepted being defeated by Traian Basescu, commented BBC.
The media commented that incumbent president, Ion Iliescu, distanced himself from Nastase. The speculations were fueled by the fact that Iliescu did not make public appearances along Nastase after the latterâs final defeat, as he did in the aftermath of the first round of elections. Also, when meeting the press, Iliescu said that the Social Democrat Party could not come up with a better candidate than Nastase for the top job.
"In spite of the fact that Nastaseâs government was undoubtedly the most successful one we had in the past 15 years, there are a lot of tough issues still to be solved for many categories of people," Iliescu told BBC.
When asked why ultimately people did not like Nastase, Iliescu said:
"Beyond the personal appeal or lack of one might have, I have to point out that it is easier to criticize from the standpoint of an opposition party and harder to bring up the arguments why the current government should keep holding power," Iliescu explained.
He also confirmed previous statements made to the media that he deplored the fact that the SDP could not find a better candidate than Nastase.
Translation : ANCA PADURARU