Traian Basescu, the “hooking” president

When one analyzes the way in which the current President collaborated with other politicians in time, the expression “hook-up” comes to mind.

I really looked for another word, but I wasn’t able too come up with a better one. When one analyzes the way in which the current President collaborated with other politicians in time, the expression “hook-up” comes to mind. The dictionaries give a short definition for it: “the association made to reach damnable goals”. And it fits so well.

I don’t want to say that all the people that collaborated with Traian Basescu throughout the years have had “damnable goals”. In this case, only one associate had such goals. This means he wanted to solve his problems that existed at a certain moment in time, to gain a few more hierarchical steps and to sacrifice his partner afterwards. This is a so called unilateral “hook-up”.

My first example will be an unusual one. The relationship between the current President and the inhabitants of Bucharest. Traian Basescu promised them a two-step partnership. He didn’t do anything for the first step, because he said the social-democrats didn’t allow him to. He didn’t do anything for the second step either because he became President and left a no good mayor instead. Basescu became a President based on the confidence of the inhabitants of Bucharest who didn’t have an actual mayor for 8 years.

While taking care of the things mentioned above, Traian Basescu also took care of the scarification of Petre Roman, the man who brought him into politics and supported his ascension. The other people that helped for this ascension were to be eliminated next. This was outdated. As outdated as the cooperation with the democrat convention became after only a few months. Victor Ciorbea probably remembers. Basescu attacked his own Government at that time, and caused its fall. Of course he made it in such a way not to affect him.

In 2005, the President suddenly ended the “hook-ups” with people that supported him on his way to Cotroceni: Cosmin Gusa, Aurelian Pavelescu, Lavinia Sandru, Calin Popescu-Tariceanu and the entire National Liberal Party. In the same time, Florin Anghelescu, one of the main sponsors of the electoral campaign, king of tobacco, thought it would be a great time for him to end the hook-up by hanging himself.

Politics involves strange instant alliances everywhere in the world. But these are exceptional moments because one cannot build by demolishing. Traian Basescu doesn’t have political friends, buddies, allies, people or organizations with which to collaborate and end a certain project. He has only “companions” in the Lenin way. And the trips are very short. Each turning results in giving up on the out of fashion biographies of the former partners who became enemies out of a sudden.

If one takes a closer look on things on a shorter period of time, one could think this is a successful strategy. Traian Basescu managed to reach almost all his goals. But he offers the highest level of a poisonous model for the entire political life in Romania. With a background of disbelief and instability one cannot see the political life prospering in this country. The last three years of blocked administration allow me not to give another argument for the words above.

• Translated by Sorin Bălan