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| THE WEEK in REVIEW 17/10/2009 |
| (2009-10-16) |
| Last updated: 2009-10-19 13:28 EET |
This was a week of turmoil in Romanian politics. On Tuesday, the minority Liberal Democratic government headed by Emil Boc fell when a censure motion passed in Parliament, one introduced by the Liberals and the Ethnic Hungarian Union. This was a first in the 20 years since Romania came out of dictatorship. The decisive votes were cast by Social Democratic senators and representatives, who recently broke away from the governing coalition. In order to avoid prolonging this political crisis, which comes against the general malaise of economic crunch, the Romanian president designated an independent, economist Lucian Croitoru, to form a new government. The explanation provided by the head of state was that he wanted a person capable of talking to international financial institutions providing loans to Romania who was not politically encumbered by affiliation with any given party.
Croitoru, who is, however, close to the Liberal Democratic party, and is now an adviser to the governor of the National Bank of Romania, represented Romania in its dialog with the IMF prior to this accord. The opposition was very harsh in its criticism of the nomination, and of the fact that the president ignored their suggestion for prime minister. The Liberals, Social Democrats, Ethnic Hungarians and the ethnic minority group in Parliament put forward the nomination of Klaus Johannis, the leader of the ethnic German party in Romania, and very successful mayor of Sibiu, former European Culture Capital 2007. Croitoru has 10 days to form his cabinet and be endorsed by Parliament. Analysts agree that the chances of his making it are slim at best, and that the present political crisis will only be settled by the presidential elections of November 22nd.
The IMF said they do not anticipate any disturbance in the good running of their loan agreement with Romania. They are sending to Bucharest a mission as soon as the new cabinet is put together, to discuss the stand-by agreement. Jeffrey Franks, head of mission to Romania, made this statement after the president of Romania announced the international institution delayed their visit. Romania signed in spring an accord with the IMF for borrowing about 13 billion Euro, as part of a larger loan worth around 20 billion from the EU, World Bank, and the EBRD.
Romania’s candidacy for European Agriculture Commissioner went to Dacian Ciolos, said on Monday premier Emil Boc. A former agriculture minister, Ciolos was nominated just as the Lisbon Treaty was approved by Irish voters. The only one country that did not vote the Treaty is the Czech Republic. The president of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barosso, was reconfirmed in his position. He can now begin to form a new government in Brussels.
Over 30 publishing houses and 5 writers from Romania took part these days in the Frankfurt International Book Fair, one of the most important events of its kind in the world. The Romanian stand will hold book launches, readings, debates, and meetings with writers and publishers. This year’s edition has as a special guest China. Over 7,000 publishing houses from 100 countries are present.
Romania’s national football team on Wednesday defeated at home 3 to 1 the team from Feroe Islands, in the last game of group 7 in the preliminaries of the World Cup, to be held next year in South Africa. This was the worst qualifying bid for the Romanian team, which came 5th in the standings, the next to last place. First came Serbia, then France. Then came Austria and Lithuania, while Feroe Islands was the only one that fared worse than Romania. Romania’s national team fell 10 places, to take ranking 36, in the FIFA standings, its worst ranking yet.
Winter has come early in Romania this year, with temperatures much lower than normal. The bad weather has been hitting the country with heavy rain, sleet, snow and powerful wind. In the south and south-west rain and storms left dozens of towns and villages without electricity, flooded many households, broke down trees, smashed roofs and damaged cars. Also because of the storm, ports on the Black Sea have been closed temporarily. Cold has also claimed a human life, in the east of the country. In the north, centre and west, blizzards hampered road traffic, and some roads have been closed. In many localities in the mountain areas the snow layer is dozens of inches high.
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