National Press Review, 17 February

The speculations on the possibility of replacing the Prime Minister covers today, as well, large editorial spaces in Bucharest newspapers.

‘How the barons in the Liberal Democratic Party are saying “goodbye” to Emil Boc’ – is the title in the Evenimentul Zilei.

Convinced by President Traian Băsescu that the alternative of the independent elected is the best for the party, the heads of organisations are trying to cheer the Prime Minister with the ‘re-evaluation of the mandate’.

They communicated him, that is – the Evenimentul Zilei explaines – that there is no more time to wait for the positive effects of the decisions to be observed by people.

The România Liberă asks: ‘Will the Prime Minister be replaced until 5 March?’ This is the date for which the Coordination Council of the Liberal Democratic Party was postponed, initially programmed for Saturday, when – the România Liberă believes, local branches, persuaded by the President, will make pressures to change the Prime Minister.

On the same topic, the Jurnalul Naţional observed that, in six years of presidential mandate, Traian Băsescu nominated five Prime Ministers, appointed two and did not manage to take down any.

The newspaper argues that Traian Băsescu would have appointed Tăriceanu and also Boc, but when he wanted to dismiss them, the two pretended they did not hear the order.

Regarding the same political issues, the România Liberă introduces the DAHR Congress with two mirror-interviews with the Minister of Culture, Kelemen Hunor and the presidential adviser Peter Eckstein Kovacs, both candidates for the party leadership.

Kelemen was designated heir of the DAHS by Marko Bela – the România Liberă reads, while Eckstein Kovacs has always been a rebel, who often had different views from that of the Union.

Another common topic in today’s newspapers can be summarized under the title in the România Liberă: ‘On what fortunes stand the trade union leaders who came to the attention of ANI’.

Some trade union leaders whose fortunes are being investigated have hundreds of thousands of dollars in the bank; others only declared their Dacia, low incomes and the child allowance.

The Adevărul reads on the front page about ‘The secret power of Vasile Marica’, leader of the National Federation of Trade Unions in Finance, who representatives in the discipline boards, in the examination boards for job applications and are actively involved in the allocation of incentives.

A leader of a rival federation declared for the Adevărul: ‘for fear of losing their jobs, many have let themselves manipulated by Vasile Marica’.

We conclude with the Gândul: ‘Two Chinese companies, which built the world’s longest bridges, could build two highways in Romania’.

The announcement was confirmed for the Bucharest newspaper by the commercial adviser of the Chinese Embassy in Romania.

One of these two companies alone has a million and a half employees (more than all state employees in Romania) and an income that is higher than the whole GDP in Romania.

Translated by: Manuela Stancu
MA Student, MTTLC, Bucharest University