Traian Băsescu accuses Nicușor Dan of letting Eugen Tomac continue the negotiations for the formation of the Government even though he had already decided to appoint Adrian Veștea. The former president claims that the situation raises questions regarding institutional loyalty and the transparency of the process of appointing the prime minister.
Traian Băsescu Photo: inquam photos
In an interview for StirileProTV.ro, Traian Băsescu stated that the head of state would have managed the change of the candidate for the position of prime minister non-transparently, suggesting that even Eugen Tomac would not have been informed in time about the decision taken.
The former president claims that the talks between Nicușor Dan and Adrian Veștea took place since Wednesday, while Eugen Tomac continued to publicly present his government project until Saturday.
“It gave me the impression that even Tomac was tricked. In the sense that the discussion with Veștea took place on Wednesday, and Tomac was still presenting his Government on all televisions on Saturday. So Eugen Tomac did not know that the president had made the decision to change the candidate“, said Traian Băsescu.
In his opinion, the situation represents a problem of “loyal cooperation” between institutions and political leaders involved in the process of forming the Government.
“How is it possible to talk to Veștea on Wednesday and let the appointed Prime Minister Tomac walk with a Government, to negotiate, when you know that on Sunday you will announce another candidate for the position of Prime Minister?”, the former head of state asked rhetorically.
Constitutional decision, but politically debatable
Traian Băsescu specified that the appointment of Adrian Veștea does not raise issues from a constitutional point of view, but believes that there are question marks regarding how the decision was made.
According to him, the appointment of a member of the PNL without prior consultation with the leader of the formation, Ilie Bolojan, is difficult to understand.
“From a constitutional point of view it has no problem, it is a constitutional decision. On the other hand, from the point of view of interpersonal relations, it is difficult to understand that you appoint a member of the PNL without talking to the president of the party. I think that here we would fit into what is called loyal cooperation“, Băsescu explained.
The former president also declared himself distrustful of the statements made by Adrian Veștea regarding the existence of a parliamentary majority of 240 votes.
“Vestea comes, parachuted from Brasov, and says: “I have 240 votes”. Where did you get 240 votes, brother? You came with them from Brasov?”, Traian Băsescu commented ironically.
During the interview, the former head of state also discussed the professional training of the designated prime minister.
“And with regard to Mr. Veștea’s ability to fulfill his position, please, we have had a prime minister before without a baccalaureate degree. He seems to have graduated, somewhat, from an unauthorized, unaccredited faculty. So we also have this type of problem regarding him.” Basescu said.
Traian Băsescu believes that the president is in a difficult situation, considering that approximately 45 days have passed since the fall of the Government, and the first attempt to appoint a prime minister did not materialize.
“Dânsul has a registered failure in the first nomination, a nomination that did not even reach the plenary session of the Parliament and we could say, from an official point of view, now with Veștea it is the first nomination. Let’s hope that at least this ends up being voted on in the Parliament”. the former president stated.
Asked about the possibility of early elections in the event of a new failure to form the Government, Traian Băsescu estimated that the main electoral beneficiary would be AUR.
“Definitely GOLD. At the moment, the parties in power, the so-called democratic or pro-Western parties, are subject to the opprobrium of the electorate, not only for increases in taxes, excises, tariffs and so on, or because of inflation, but also for the way they behave.” he said.
In the opinion of the former head of state, the exit from the impasse can only be achieved by restoring the coalition formed by PSD, PNL, USR and UDMR, formations that already have a government program and a political protocol.
“We have only one solution: returning to the alliance, returning to the alliance that has a protocol, has a program approved by Parliament, and there is no other solution than for the parties to understand that there are also things that are above them”said Băsescu.
