Romanian President Traian Basescu on Wednesday criticized the
fact that the new government is an ultra-minority executive, noting
that Romania needs elections, so that the voice of the people is
not stifled.
"Parliament has voted in a new government. But my political
responsibility urges me to tell you that this government has only
20 percent direct support in parliament and a majority negotiated
backstage and not transparently," Basescu said a day after having
signed a decree appointing the revamped government.
Basescu said Romania needs a strong government and a steady
majority so as to combat poverty, curb criminality and improve
infrastructure.
The new cabinet passed the investiture vote in parliament on
Tuesday afternoon, with 303 votes in favor and 27 against. The
validation requires the minimum 235 votes in favor out of the total
of 469 MPs.
The cabinet proposed by Prime Minister Calin Popescu-Tariceanu
on Monday is based on a Liberal structure, with 4 members of the
Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania, but none of the
pro-presidential Democratic Party.
"The current political situation is not incidental, but
structural. It proves us that relations among state institutions
were ill-tailored," Basescu said, adding that another cause is
institutional confusion generated by the ambiguity and imprecision
of the constitutional text.
The president also called for a responsible debate on
constitutional reform, saying "we need a new constitution able to
avoid institutional stalemates and adjusted to the European
realities."
"But above all," he stressed, "we need elections," because the
current government looks more like a Board of Directors united by
business interests rather than general interests.
Romania is currently witnessing a period of political
turbulence. The feud has pitted Basescu's Democratic Party against
Prime Minister Tariceanu's National Liberal Party. Meanwhile, the
opposition Social Democrats are trying to impeach the
president.
(Xinhua News Agency April 5, 2007)
