|
RRI newsletter subcription
(e-mail address):
|
 |
Archives:
|
|
| THE COALITION LIVES ON 04/08/09 |
| (2009-08-04) |
| Last updated: 2009-08-05 12:50 EET |
Only half a year into their political marriage, the Social Democratic Party and the Liberal Democratic Party, which share power in Romania, do not shy from spelling out the incompatibilities that undermine their relations, bringing their alliance on the verge of dismantling. It's not only about the differences in doctrine or differences between those parties' top leaders, former electoral opponents. The economic slump and the fight against corruption are the new bones of contention for two parties which clearly regard their political alliance as perfunctory. Mutual attacks were launched last week, after president Traian Basescu, a supporter of the Liberal Democrats, had urged the Emil Boc government to slash the number of public employees by 20 per cent. The idea was strongly opposed by Social Democratic leader Mircea Geoana, who said that making 300 thousand people redundant would be economically and socially ungrounded.
Yet the issue that divides the two parties the most is neither the anti-crisis plan nor the new legislation on education, pending for government approval. Instead, the thorniest issue is the management of top-level corruption investigations. The European Commission's harsh criticism of the Romanian justice system's delaying investigations into high-rank politicians did not go unnoticed. The result was the establishment of parliamentary inquiry commissions, such as the one targeting Minister of Youth and Sports, Monica Iacob Ridzi, who has already resigned, or the one probing into Minister of Tourism Elena Udrea. Both ladies are members of the Liberal Democratic Party, and Elena Udrea also benefits from president Basescu's open support. That is why Monday's meeting of the ruling coalition focused on the two parties' attitude towards to the incumbent Tourism Minister. While the Liberal Democrats asked for the suspension of the parliamentary inquiry into Udrea, the Social Democrats called on Udrea's party to take a distance from president Basescu. Which of course is not doable, leaving the ruling parties as incompatible as ever. “The coalition can’t stick together, yet it is irreplaceable,” headlines the newspaper JURNALUL NATIONAL, and adds that, much as they hate each other, the two parties will not give up power.
“The coalition goes on. So does the war,” writes EVENIMENTUL ZILEI as well, which predicts that the Social Democrats and Liberal Democrats will stay in power together at least until the presidential election due later this year. In turn, the newspaper ZIUA writes, quote, “The coalition depends on Elena Udrea,” unquote, and regards the charismatic politician as a key element in the relationship between the two parties, whereas the newspaper ROMANIA LIBERA believes the coalition is actually staging a show: “A puppet show, endorsed by the head of state and acted out irresponsibly,” the paper concludes.
|
|
| |
WMA |
|
64kbps : |
1
2
3
|
|
|
128kbps : |
1
2
3
|
| |
MP3 |
|
|
64kbps : |
1
2
3
|
|
|
128kbps : |
1
2
3
|
| |
AAC+ |
|
|
48kbps : |
1
2
3
|
|
|
64kbps : |
1
2
3
|
 Historical mascot of
RRI |
| |
© 1999 - 2011 Copyright Radio Romania International |
|
2025-04-03
Print
Listen again