Nine Months with Basescu

He gave the state institutions six months and threatened them he would draw the line at the deadline. We gave him nine, because, as they say, the good things show after nine months. We draw the line now. How many of his promises did he keep? How often did he change his mind? Where was he successful and where wasn’t he?

Well, this analysis of the nine months of Presidency - a modest one compared to the one he could make in the case of the state institutions - begins exactly with this promise he didn’t keep. Right after the elections, Traian Basescu stated he gave the state institutions six months. On the 7th of February, in the interview for Jurnalul National, he clearly said: "I gave all the state institutions six months, a period in which I will analyze their efficiency and I think this is fair. Everything including the centre. I am not a person having the illusion that the Police, the Prosecutor’s Office or the judges are not touched by the corruption gangrene. However, we will draw the line after six months". During his visit to the High Court of Casation and Justice, he assailed: "After six months, None of the ones who believe frozen for years won’t have any chance of dealing with the modifications in legislation, because I will go in front of the Parliament with the arguments justifying the law changes. This way, if needed, we will get rid of the judges that believe they are here for 6 years, by members of the Supreme Court of Justice that are already known as obedient and incapable, and corruptible or simply dependant on their previous connections. We will introduce a law and change all the men. Some believe they are untouchable because they had been elected based on the law that should protect them for six years, for 15 years, or for their entire lives. After six months, we see they are a gangrene elected for 20 years and we will atomize it with the laws. They have six months to prove they are not gangrene". The policemen were also given six months to fight against the Mob or maybe they want to work from then on in agriculture.

Justice Independence

Nine months have passed, and we are still waiting for the presidential drawing of the line. However, in press conferences the President criticizes the judges in the case of which "nothing can be changed except, maybe, the alleged goodwill of doing their duty", or the SCJ President, that seems to have attacked "continuously" Minister Macovei. In November 2004, his statements were: "The Justice Administration has to belong to the Superior Council of Magistracy, but not by the Ministry of Justice. The SCJ is the one that has to clean his yard, but not the President of Romania. We have to give power to the Supreme Court of Magistracy in order for it to be able to look at each judge and say: you stay, you don’t, you stay. Not the President, not the Government, not the Parliament". On one hand, the President also revealed that the legislative package regarding the Justice reform will be one of the good things in the European Commission’s opinion in the country report. On the other hand, the great corruption is one of the points that might activate the saving clause.

Big Fish, Short-Term Jail

Corruption, the main theme of the 2004 campaign, has been introduced by the Supreme Court of National Defense in the national security strategy as one of the main dangers. However, the reality is that all the names that Traian Basescu accused one year ago were arrested only during some TV shows in the news, and now they are free. Corneliu Iacobov - on the 10th of January, Traian Basescu was promising he wouldn’t be allowed to leave the country. On the 16th of July, Iacobov was going on a holiday, and he came back. The Iancu brothers, defendants in the same RAFO case, have also been released. In the meantime, Iacobov’s banking accounts in Monaco have been seized. Dumitru Sechelariu was under arrest for 43 days and then released. Sorin Ovidiu Vantu’s file is back on the Prosecutors’ desks, while all the other members of the FNI (National Investment Fund) have been sentenced. No words about Ioan Niculae (SNTR), another head of the accusations, at the Prosecutor’s Office. Like he is still in the opposition, Basescu continues to accuse his rival Nastase. He says he is still on the list of the corrupted people, invoking press articles instead of proofs. There is also another file very present in the campaign that got back to the Prosecutor’s Office: the Fleet file, in which the defendant is the President himself. The Prosecutor that took care of the file, Ioan Otel, has been dismissed. In the same time, Basescu has to consider also the episode with the first floor from the mansion in the Stefan Mihaileanu street for which he had paid only 19,000 US dollars. As about his promises of going in front of the Parliament, we can only say Traian Basescu didn’t speak about health, energy, the interest groups around the Government or about the one-chambered Parliament where he promised he would. His explanation: the Parliament is too busy right now with his internal disputes.

The Player

"The President represents the society in regard to the state institutions", is Basescu’s favorite interpretation of the 80th article in the Constitution and the fundament for his will of being a player President, an involved President.

He went to the Maracineni bridge for at least 12 times, as we counted, for 15-20 times he says. There, he encouraged the sooner finishing of the bridge’s construction. "Come on guys, ‘cause I want to drink a glass of wine here on my birthday".

Traian Basescu threatens not to promulgate the budget if it isn’t made on projects. He demands higher fees for alcohol and cigarettes, and the money collected this way would go to the Health departments. He promises higher pensions. He is for the increase in the VAT. He calls the oil kings to settle the price of gas together. He threatens to make the OMV - Petrom contract public. He negotiates to Bechtel in the USA. He names Ministers, revokes the state secretaries, he is for Mona Musca as the president of the Chamber, just for spoiling Tariceanu’s games in the party. He leads the emergency committee during the floods in the absence of the Prime Minister and puts the army and the GPS (Guard and Protect System) on the move. There are no moves without him in the DP (Democratic Party), the party that built an alley to the Cotroceni hill just to elect their leaders, not to mention the national duties.