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| Turbulence on the Romanian Political Scene |
| (2011-11-14) |
| Last updated: 2011-11-15 13:57 EET |
One year ahead of the parliamentary elections, the main opposition party, the Social Democratic Party, is facing an unprecedented situation in Romanian politics. Mircea Geoana, one of the party’s big hitters and Speaker of the Senate, could be excluded from the party.
The Speaker of the Senate, Mircea Geoana, is heading towards the end of his career within the ranks of the Social Democratic Party. For the first time in Romanian political history since 1989, Geoana could be the first party leader to be removed from the party he led from 2005 to 2010. A prominent figure within Romanian social democracy, Mircea Geoana was valued first and foremost as a diplomat in Washington and as Foreign Minister in Bucharest.
His rise through the ranks seems to have stalled after the presidential elections in 2009 when he lost out to Traian Basescu by a narrow margin. Having maintained its unity in the hope of winning elections, the socialist party then spiraled into a storm of retribution and account settling. In 2010, the first tensions between Mircea Geoana and the new Socialists’ leader, Victor Ponta, become clear. These divisions took a dramatic turn when the party’s Integrity Committee proposed Geoana’s exclusion from the party.
After meeting on Sunday in Geoana’s absence, the Chairman of the Committee, Dan Sova said: “We have agreed that the sanction will be exclusion from the party. We will relay this opinion to the National Executive Committee which, as a political body, will adopt a decision on Mircea Geoana as it sees fit.”
The decision was predictable given that few voices within the party still support Geoana and, short of political backing, he could lose the chairmanship of the Senate. Taken by surprise, Geoana claims unfair treatment. He rejects the accusations of having broken party rules and is contesting his exclusion from the party.
Mircea Geoana: “In light of the fact that I will contest the recommendations of the party’s Integrity Committee, in accordance with the old and the new statute, the only forum competent to take the decision is the Party Congress.”
Political commentators see the skirmish with Geoana as a signal of the fight for supremacy within the party in the run up to parliamentary elections next year. Political commentator Cristian Parvulescu:
“After 2010, the Socialist Party entered a phase of ambiguity. Geoana stayed on as Speaker of the Senate and wields quite a lot of power, which clearly presents a problem for Victor Ponta and the new leadership. Geoana and Ponta are both hinging their careers on the election results. If the Socialists don’t do well, Ponta will have to bow out of politics. If Geoana is able to build a new party or platform and get a good result, he will remain in politics irrespective of the decisions taken by the Socialist Party next week.”
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