President Basescu Acts Alone Much Like President Ceausescu Did

The way the Romanian Presidency handled the dismissal and the subsequent public communication, or rather lack there of, reminded me the communist times, when dictator Nicolae Ceausescu was heading the country.

On Thursday, the heads of three intelligence services resigned and President Traian Basescu accepted their resignations.

The press release was conspicuously lacking any details, except for the one that suspected terrorist Omar Hayssam escape from Romania triggered the events.

Since Thursday, neither Basescu nor the three former heads of intelligence services issued any further explanations to the public.

Where they warranted?

Of course they were.

All four men are paid with taxpayers money, and their resignations and acceptance there of had political and security consequences for Romania.

The former three heads of intelligence services acted as if they were accountable only to their inner circle and top boss, much like mobsters are accountable only to the head of the mafia family.

And Basescu acted much like Ceausescu did, while the presidency’s press release carbon copied the conspicuous lack of details of the communist times press releases.

Also serious is the fact that parliamentarians and opinion leaders did not take a stance against such behavior reminiscent of the old regime, which Basescu and the three former heads of intelligence services displayed.

Translated by Anca Paduraru