Witch hunt, dodgy magistrates, Ponta in Brussels - News update
(Image source) Not much news to update you on and anyway, I'm sick and tired of the whole political scene in Romania. I'm sick of the lies, the slandering, the rudeness, the way people talk to / about each other and the general inability to see a civilised, intelligent debate where people aren't ripping strips off each other and dung-flinging... It's hard to filter, hard to know what one should read, heed and pay attention to and what is there to manipulate and purposely mislead. I still abide by 'content over author' but I have had so much criticism for it. Tough, is what I say to that. Perhaps a Romanian can navigate the rocky path of their politics better, but for me, it's becoming an uphill battle and immensely time-consuming, not to mention frustrating, upsetting and infuriating.
The only news really worth mentioning at any length this evening is the reports that four (three Romanian and one Spanish) journalists are being attacked for apparently writing a pack of porkies which have caused the international community to see the country in a negative light. That comes as a surprise to me since I thought the country's politicians (on both sides) had done that very nicely all by themselves with plagiarism, back stabbing, attempted suicides, criminals allowed to vote for the impeachment of a president, breaking laws, paying protesters to go out into the streets and behaving in ways that would shame and disgrace any country at the best of times, bringing upon them a clamour of condamnation from the EUP and other international institutions.
Fortunately, these journalists are supported by an independant organisation, Activewatch, which seems to be on top of things, but it's still outrageous to me that such a witch hunt can occur in 2012...
Then there's the story about the two magistrates being investigated by the DNA for trading jobs with Ponta. I understand that they tried to enter an illegal agreement with him but I'm afraid I didn't pay more attention. See more HERE.
Other news: Victor Ponta said he apologised for his rather rude response to/about Angela Merkel after she condemned his controversial actions of late. On Monday, Ponta retorted that it wasn't Chancellor Merkel who would vote in the July 29th referendum, but the Romanian people, and underlined that what Romanian voters chose could not be undone. He also voiced confidence that after the referendum, no German Christian Democrat would dare offend the Romanian people in suggesting the country was a dictatorship. He actually meant 'offend him' rather than 'the Romanian people', but I won't split hairs at this point or I'll get hate mail. He asked rhetorically: “What, are we a colony?” What sublime arrogance this man has...
Today, he said, “I regret that answer now, but according to normal logic, if you discuss something with one side, you have to discuss it with the other side too before passing judgment. Mrs. Merkel did the same thing that she did in France during the campaign. She said clearly that she was supporting a candidate and then, immediately after the elections, in a very Western and pragmatic way, she said she had excellent relations with the new president, Francois Hollande.” That doesn't actually count as a 'western' apology, Mr Ponta. It's a 'sorry' with a retraction. Not the same thing at all. You either say your sorry or you don't.
He left for Brussels this morning to try to smooth things over and explain himself after having become the target for much criticism from high ranking EU officials. Joseph Daul refused to see him.
“He just asked me to meet with him, ten minutes ago. I said no,” the EPP group leader said, according to the Bucharest Herald. Rather a humiliating happening - it will do Mr Ponta good to have someone tell him 'no' for once, I'm sure. “I wish to have a debate in the European Parliament over this matter. I will invite the Romanian PM to come and explain to Parliament the manner in which he changed so many laws and decisions in a few days, what the final end was,” Daul continued. There's a lesson to be learned there, Mr Ponta - there are some people you can order around and ... some people you can't.
In a press conference with President of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, Ponta said that he and his government had taken note of the criticism and accusations and intended to "respect CCR decisions and legally and objectively organise the referendum.” There's a difference between 'intending' and 'promising' when it comes to the organisation of a legal and objective referendum to my mind, but hey, that's just me.
Schulz seems to have given Ponta rather a hard time. "Victor Ponta is my friend, we are part of the same European political movement, but as a Premier, he mustn’t leave room for interpretation. Our conversation wasn’t among the friendliest ones. I wasn’t silent two years ago when Basescu chose Premier Boc, instead of Mr. Iohannis, and now I have had the same attitude,” Bucharest Herald reports. Schultz also said he spoke to Jose Manuel Barroso a few days ago, who would check Romanian procedures for their accordance with EU standards.
Most of the Romanian population may be inert and half asleep but the EUP is wide awake, it seems....
Apart from all that, it seems that everyone has now gone into overdrive with one aim in view and one aim only - the referendum on 29th July. It is as if life will either begin or end with it... Indeed, it is of paramount importance to us all, whether we are able to vote or not and on whichever side of the fence we sit.
Oh and I almost forgot: The most philosophical quote of the last 24h comes from Crin Antonescu, who said, according to Bucharest Herald, "Romania is not in crisis, but in a normal situation." Sure... and I'm the Queen of Sheba... No further comment.
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Further articles of the day which merit your time (please do feel free to suggest others should you conside them valuable for the understanding of the current situation in Romania today) for views on both sides: Apocalipsa veselă (Florin Iaru for Adevarul), What's it all about in Romania? (Paul Wood - An Englishman in Bucharest), Unde au disparut marii corupti (Stelian Tanase), Top liberal who backs the "cheat's uprising" in Romania (Tom Gallagher - The Commentator), De ce a fost indispensabil Traian Băsescu? (Andrei Cornea - Revista 22), Fight to the death between president and government (Presseurop), Colonia Romania (Florin Negrutiu - Gândul) and Asteptand rinocerii (Vlad Zografi - Hotnews).
Commentaires sur Witch hunt, dodgy magistrates, Ponta in Brussels - News update
- To DanaHello Dana, I couldn't agree more...
Thank you for the article recommendation. Ha! Funny! I had put it there before I read your comment. Yes, it's a good one and tallies nicely with Ponta's response to Chancellor Merkel.
"am sarit din lac in putz" - I'll try to remember that one
Thank you once again for visiting,for taking the time to comment and the recommendation.
Best,
Sarah - Thank you Sarah for this article. If only the Romanians could see things as they really are. Unfortunately many of them are manipulated by tv channels like Antena 3 or Realitatea TV etc. I've even heard a friend of mine saying he perceived things as "coming back to normal". Loosing one's liberty is seen as "normal and decent"... Must be sequel of communism.
- CCR DecisionsTake some oppinions about the CCR decisions that have to be followed in order not to upset the PPE leader or the European Democracy. CCR imposed a cvorum and Europe tells us we have to stick with that otherwise we are a failure of democracy. On the other hand, some wise guys in Venice ar telling the opposite:
"50. Based on its experience in the area of referendums, the Venice Commission has decided to recommend that no provision be made for rules on quorums.
51. A turn-out quorum (minimum percentage) means that it is in the interests of a proposal’s opponents to abstain rather than to vote against it. For example, if 48% of electors are in favour of a proposal, 5% are against it and 47% intend to abstain, the 5% of opponents need only desert the ballot box in order to impose their viewpoint, even though they are very much in the minority. In addition, their absence from the campaign is liable to increase the number of abstentions and thus the likelihood that the quorum will not be reached. Encouraging either abstention or the imposition of a minority viewpoint is not healthy for democracy (point III.7.a). Moreover, there is a great temptation to falsify the turn-out rate in the face of weak opposition.
52. An approval quorum (acceptance by a minimum percentage of registered voters) may also be inconclusive. It may be so high as to make change excessively difficult. If a text is approved – even by a substantial margin – by a majority of voters without the quorum being reached, the political situation becomes extremely awkward, as the majority will feel that they have been deprived of victory without an adequate reason; the risk of the turn-out rate being falsified is the same as for a turn-out quorum."
Quotes are from http://wwwzoepetre.blogspot.ro/2012/07/comisia-europeana-pentru-democratieprin.html
I have to say that i agree with the people from the Commission in Venice, there should not be a cvorum, especialy for the case of a referendum where people are asked if they undo what they did before, in the same way. - CCR respected for what?Why should someone respect CCR? The made a complant to Venice Commission that they are abused but they take decissio clearly against the rocomendation of that commission and really against the poor Constitution as in the case of this cvorum in referendum. There is NOWHERE written in the constitution such a condition so they could impose such a thing. Adding to that is that electing the president in one way and making almost impossible to fire him in the same way makes them trash the constitution by the fact they produce in this way two types of vote where the constitution says very clear that the vote should be ECQUAL. Of course, shoul be ecqual in terms o value of one man's vot at he time but could be extended to that particular situation: what you cand do through vote should be possible to be undone in absolutely the same way as it was done.
So CCR is adding to the constitution, is adding to the laws ... why should i trust it or respect it !!? - Stop the liesI would recommend presenting an unbiased opinion about Romania. Why no press and media outside the Romania does not present why people hate Basescu so much and is not only the harsh decisions he made on Romanian people its about his entire network of corrupt PDL members who steal EU funds for their own enrichment. WHY IS NO SIGN of that in media around the world why do we have to take this from someone like Mrs. Merkel and Mr. Barosso? Is it allowed for EU to change our constitution on their liking? Who do they think they are? By the way the recent documents about the population of Romania shows clearly that the forum was reached and Basescu is expected to take a leave from the position of head of state, more then 51 percent of the people voted and over 88% of them voted for impeachment. So stop saying only bullshit about Romania present the facts as they are. Another thing, who forces his people to not WATCH a certain tv station, on 29 Basescu told his fans on national tv to not watch Antena 3 for 3 weeks, in the meanwhile RCS-RDS stoped transmiting the Antena 3 tv signal in some of the Cities around Romania, WTF is this? Is this DEMOCRACY? IS THIS THE DEMOCRACY THAT EU IS FORCING ON US?
- @Meka Just because you see things this way, it doesn't necessarily mean that the whole population sees them the same way. Your percentages are irrelevant since there are millions of people who refused to participate to this mascarade. Regarding your question "Why no press and media outside the Romania does not present why people hate Basescu so much and is not only the harsh decisions he made on Romanian people ...." . Are you serious? Maybe the entire press is a fan of Basescu?! or maybe the entire world is corrupt? Oh come on! Why you have to take this from Merkel Barosso UE etc? because you wanted to be part of the European Union! that's why!
- You deny this?You you deny this?
http://www.dcnews.ro/2012/07/ins-confirma-ca-la-referendum-s-a-obtinut-cvorumul/
And the reported participation of BEC? 8.455.336 experssed their votes...do a simple calculation.
Stop talking in the name of the 8 million people who voted.
I did not want to be part of any UE, the government wanted that. Because of people like you all the media outside of Romania writes only bullshit, if I have to I will ask Avaaz to help us because it seems that forces from outside Romania are forcing the people to stay under a dictatorial president like Basescu. - Meka, all I know is that I love my country and I want all the best for it. And in my hope for a better future I took an objective look over the situation and did what I thought to be the best. Maybe there is an outside evil force as you say, but it certainly did not force me not to vote! I'll ask my friends and family, maybe they know more about this! But let's forget about Basescu for a second; could you please just answer one question: Do you consider that Antonescu, Ponta and Iliescu are the right people to decide for Romania's future?
- Here is the factFor gods sake, the referendum was not about who will lead you in the forthcoming years put that through your think skull. The referendum was about "Should BASESCU stay or not as president" the answer on the buletin vote was "Yes or NO"
The referendum did not ask who do you like best "Basescu or Antonesc and Ponta" from where do you take those ideas. This is what the cowards who stood at home understood, that they are not going to the referendum because they dont want to chose beteen Basescu and Antonescu, for all of you who stayed at home THE FUCKING ELECTIONS ARE ONLY HELD if the referendum is validated. ONLY THEN YOU WILL CHOOSE A NEW PRESIDENT, and the new president will choose his PM and so forth. Stop being so close minded, no one was putting you to chose your next leaders. Why do I need to explain this thing over and over and over again.
Iliescu has no way of participating in another position for President, but as it seems you dont know this, Iliescu left the politic scene long ago. Romanian people have to stop being so naive and believe in everything a comunist and wissleblower for the Securitate that Basescu is, is nothing more then a former informer of Securitate before '89 - Sorry for what for lying about the truth?We, all the 8.455.336 are the ones who went to the vote and all the 89% who voted YES on the referendum are the ones who see the things as they are why is no one asking us what our opinion is, all I see on the media is PRO Basescu news. STOP puting Basescu in the spot light like a saint is far from being a saint. Is know that 64% of our parliament is CORRUPT no need to put headlight on that. But now its time to face the facts and take in consideration the people who voted , the same people that Basescu and PDL called "Ciupalaci" and "Zombies" and so on. What president is calling his people those names, who in his right mind as a leader says („muie”, „îmi bag p... în sindicatele voastre”, „vin mâine la tine-n birou s-o facem” )"up yours","I stick my d**ck in your Unions","I will come into your office and we can do it", to the working people who are defended by that Union? to the people who voted for him? Start searching for the fact and stop being a botomfeader. The fact are out there you just need to open your eyes and mind and see the truth. If you dare to call 8.455.336 people idiots then your place is in a padded room my friend.
We are as civilized as we are respected, as long as no one respected our opinion do not expect respect from us, Romanian people do not bow before anyone (at least not 8.455.336 of us) - And about the respect towards the CC and the constitution, Basescu modified the constitution so he will not be so easily inpeached, and the Constitutional Court was infiltrated by many PDL members in such a way that any decision that needed to be taken was biased towards PDL. This is what you call Democracy. And that is why the curent parliament needed to weed out the servants of PDL and make a clean CC. PDL is cornered now and is attacking all angles that the Ponta govenment is taking. Why arent you telling the world how much Udrea spent for some freaking toilet seats? I tell you 14000 euros for some toilet seats. Why arent you telling how much did udrea pay for a freaking logo? I tell you 800000 euros. Why not tell the world how much money did the PDL pay for a simple HTML webpage - 2 milion EUROS. Why not tell to the world that why Basescu was cutting pensions and closing hospitals he was giving a go for reparations to the Dante Villa of 1 million euros. Why is the media covering this up? Why not tell to the world that we who voted are fed up by the high price of CFR tickets and the PDL CEO's around the country made a big hole of 9.5 billion euros? WHY???!!!!????
- Care to comment with facts?Can you present me some facts from the last 8 years what did Basescu do to the people of Romania to emprove the economy of this country?
And don't tell me that the country is in crysis because all parties , all have Ipads, Iphones, expensive cars expensive clothing, while people around the country had their pensions and salaries cut, hospitals closed and so on.
Im out of here I hame more important things to do then to explain to my romanian neighbour what he should see for himself. - Histerie quand tu nous tiens!I am sorry if I cannot put up with your monologue! The ideas are really chaotically formulated and the arguments are childish and ludicrous! Moreover your obvious emotional implication seems to put you on the edge of a stroke. I wouldn't want this! Take a deep breath, cry if necessary but mostly stay away from the Antena 3 as it has been proved to seriously damage the brain! bye bye ... comrade
- FunyMy Ideas are chaotically formulated? What do you want to teach you point by point what happens in your own country?
As usual the only thing that PDL fans do is personal attack due to the lack of evidence. It is so typical ...
All the links to other articles mentioned at the bottom of this blog entry are all Pro Basescu so this is a dis-informational blog and biased view of one person. - and...And Florin Iaru? He's not pro-Basescu... try reading the articles hyperlinked before assuming, Meka... Sarah In Romania linked several opinions on both sides obviously to be objective despite her own opinions which is more than can be said for most Romanians who just yell and insult and have total tunnel vision.
- I don't know"DCS News? Not a credible source, Meka...."
I don't know give me a link about what happens in Romania and I will tell you if its reliable or not. As long as the news its not impartial regarding the situation in Romania then its not reliable.
For a news to be reliable it has to cover all the points of view even if those point of view are in a total disparagement. - @Meka: Do not bother! It sems that facts are no longer important in this world. They seem to count only in relation to "the source" not to the content. The source of credible information should be at least Monica Macovei or something ... And no argument is valid because it can always be said that "it's uncivilised" and - case closed. Or you can get : "I read your arguments twice and they are wrong" - again case closed since the "opponent said so". Those are the people, do not lose anymore time, the result will be the same. The only fact that you watch some times A3 will make you unfit, a witch, a participant to the "coup d'etat" ...
- Meka, why do you think you know it all and all the others are wrong? You are in absolutely no position to lecture us. I hope you understand enough English, German or French to be able to have an educated opinion. Make an effort and read Le Monde, Le Figaro, USA Today and especially Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ)and Der Spiegel. You have no idea how ridiculous you look by talking down to all of us here. Who do you think you are?
- As usualAs usual the only things that the PDL supporters know is the things that are irrelevant to what the referendum is.
And as usual this is nothing but a PDL fan nest. Guided and propagating only biased views about their "god" Basescu. I suggest you guys search on Youtube about the Struggle of EU to hold together the EU zone by any measures possible and the meaning real meaning of the forum imposed on the referendum in Romania. - OYShalom
I've found your blog by mistake and just came by this article.I just couldn't stay out of this dialogue without 2 interfere.
First of all I am not a pro PSD or pro PDL,I never voted for any of them -NEVER.Now,those being said I must also point out my ideas,you 2 might agree or disagree,I could care less...
1st of all Basescu was elected in a democratic manner(yes,I know with more or less tourist voters or more or less beers 4 his own voters,BUT we all know all the parties around here do the same)
2nd He didnt violate any Constitutional article(if you find me ONE then I will bow in front of you,and do not come with those demagogic speeches about entire Constitution,salaries etc=>ONE ARTICLE-and pls read the Constitution 1st)
3rd A presiden't can't cut the salaries and/or pensions and even if he suggested that to his PM then must've been a law that entered 1st in the PARLIAMENT.Also if you don't know ''he'' increased the salaries and pensions during 2007-2008-look it up,I didn't believe it either.
4th Basescu doesn't has any power into the EU even if PM Ponta tries to overestimate his adversary(sarcasm!)
5th Europe and the entire WORLD is in a deep crisis and ALL of the countries adopted crisis measures.Even Israel these days cut salaries and increased the taxes especially on big fortunes,and noone is protesting or trying 2 make a revolution.
These being said I wish you a good day!
Shalom - Let me try1.) Elected but not by me, I don't need a former whistle-blower to the Securitate to take decisions for me. I don't care how was elected, the only thing I know is that he used in his campaigns his BIG mouth and huge promises.
2.)Article 80 section 2
The president must guard the observance of the constitution and the good functioning of the public authorities. In compliance the president must mediate between the powers of the state and between the state and society.
- the most crucial of all, he did not report or pull signals about the very bad functioning of state authorities and thus he is not respecting the constitution.
3.)At point 3 he is again not respecting the constitution by imposing the austerity measures.Art82 section2 "Jur să-mi dăruiesc toată puterea şi priceperea pentru propăşirea spirituală şi materială a poporului român, să respect Constituţia şi legile ţării, să apăr democraţia, drepturile şi libertăţile fundamentale ale cetăţenilor, suveranitatea, independenţa, unitatea şi integritatea teritorială a României. Aşa să-mi ajute Dumnezeu!" by imposing strict measures of austerity dictated by UE he is not respecting his own oath to guard the prosperity of the country and its people. Our external dept is bigger every year, you call that prosperity?
4.)Yes Basescu has no authority in UE because he takes and implements any measures that UE is imposing without even questioning its value and potential harm to the prosperity of our Country thus not respecting its own electorate.
5.)Not true, the crisis is a smokescreen of the real corruption in our country, you can not say its a crisis and you spend billions of euros on irrelevant projects (without ever being finished, like the census that costed us 43 million euros) and in the meantime you tell the people that you have to cut salaries pensions and child support. - Yes and noShalom,
I didn't say if he was elected by you or not but by the majority and in a democratic manner.He wasn't elected by me either if that makes you feel better.
Now let's try to be objective(I know we are humans and we are ruled by our feelings but lets make an effort!)Basescu had how many PM outside ''his'' party?You cannot say he didn't try to mediate between the powers of the state as long as he had several PMs outside PDL.Now tell me did we, the Romanians that are so harsh on defending the justice,suspend Iliescu when he brought the miners?Of course not,we even welcomed the miners with flowers in Bucharest.Did we,the Romanians that adore and worship our country and its borders,suspend Constantinescu when he sold out the North of Bucovina to the Ukrainians?Of course not!Did we,the Romanians that love our industry,and want jobs,and don't want to go abroad, suspended Iliescu when Nastase sold out Petrom and other huge factories(such as Sidex) to foreigners and now we pay for benzin more than the Austrians?The answer is no.Did the former presidents guarded,not the Constitution,but Romania?The answer is NO.Is Basescu a good president?The answer is NO.BUT to suspend him by breaking the entire Justice,to suspend him on the risk of famine,and economic breakdown that is not acceptable.The only one that is NOT guarding the Constitution now is the Ponta government that prefer to play a circus game instead of governing.
I do understand that you are not for the EU but as long as we don't have anymore industry and agriculture,we are forced to depend on them and the FMI.We have no more economy-you know right?and not only Basescu is to be blamed!Who's responsable for this situation?The only thing that we Romanians can do, is to unite against entire political scene and start to work and rebuild what THEY destroyed.The solution is not a civil war,this is what they want,to divide us.Why do we have to behave like slaves and accept their beer or money at elections?We cannot judge for ourselves,we cannot see that we need new politicians?Why do we have to go out on streets only if someone pays us with 30 lei(as I heared)?
I am not your enemy and you are not my enemy,we are both Romanians,and that is a bond that they cannot break.Again I saw on TV that they try to blame the Hungarians for the Referendum-whats next?gas chambers? Try to think for yourself and see the bad on both sides.
Shalom.
http://www.gandul.info/puterea-gandului/colonia-romania-9847362
Your blog as very well witten, like ALL of the others that I was reading for the past three years.
Yhank you for making it much easier for us to get an idea of what's going on in Romania. Unfortunatelly, the news is not good. Apparently we jumped from a lake into a fountain or, as Romanians say, "am sarit din lac in putz.
One more thing: considering how rude and unpolished Ponta is, I cannot foresee any future for him. Whoever compared him with Titulescu had no idea who this great politician was. Too bad the country of 19 million was not able to produce a better man.