President Traian Băsescu's critical speech before the Parliament on Tuesday bears a striking resemblance to another speech he made in the Parliament in 2008. The Romanian president has been running the country for six years - in the meantime he got the Government he had always wanted, one that is not hostile to him. Has nothing changed in the past two years? And why not?
In a 2009 speech in Parliament, at a time when he was getting ready to enter his second term, here is how President Traian Băsescu characterised his five-year term: "Four out of five years of my term have been characterised by an unprecedented rise for contemporary Romania." In Tuesday's speech in Parliament, the president returns to his 2008 rhetoric, criticising the liberal government of 2007-2008 among other things, and citing the still stifling red tape.
But the president is on his way to completing his sixth year in office. What is going on?
"Traian Băsescu failed to get things going throughout this entire period. While he criticises red tape, it must be said that the civil service apparatus swelled to excess during his term. One can criticise Tăriceanu for hiking salaries and pensions, but the civil servant apparatus has continued to swell under Boc's leadership. In 2009 they took the money from the IMF, but failed to carry out reforms because the presidential campaign was nearing. Now, when people are being fired, Băsescu cannot come and say things are going great," says political analyst Stelian Tănase.
President Traian Băsescu's critical speech before the Parliament on Tuesday bears a striking resemblance to another speech he made in the Parliament in 2008. The Romanian president has been running the country for six years - in the meantime he got the Government he had always wanted, one that is not hostile to him. Has nothing changed in the past two years? An
