The minister of Defense Teodor Atanasio resigned Wednesday. This was a relief to any one who cared for at least five minutes for the Romanian military, which in the post-communist years was at the top of the institutions the public trusted.
It was a resignation coming 22 months too late. It was a great mistake in the first place for the National Liberal Party, or PNL, to designate Atanasiu as its man for the job.
The liberalsâ trade mark is to be good politicians, good business people, open-minded, with vision, and speakers of foreign languages.
Atanasiu did not fit the profile.
Some liberals admitted privately to be embarrassed with having sent Atanasiu for the defense office, but supported him just the same in his political squabble with President Traian Basescu.
Some say that PM Calin Popescu Tariceanu salso head of the PNL, trans. notet compromised, when he gave up the partyâs defense portfolio Wednesday in exchange for Romaniaâs seat on the European Union Commission.
I, for one, believe that the PNL triumphed when it let Atanasiu go from the Defense Ministry.
I also believe it was a smart move of Tariceanuâs, which turned him into a player on the political scene, on a pair with the president.
The one-on-one talk Wednesday morning between Basescu and Tariceanu cleared the air.
Instead of the usual confrontation, we got a first instance, since the new government took office in 2004, when a meeting of the two leaders of the main coalition partners went well. sAlbeit Basescu is an informal leader of the Democrat Party, trans. notet.
Tariceanu and Basescuâs personal relationship risked reaching a point of no return and the inevitable divorce.
Abnormal, however, is the fact that fundamental decisions for the country were taken among three or four people only.
The consultation procedure i
