Treason, yes, but we should have been warned!

(story to be published in tomorrow’s issue, March 20)

The Liberals will assess during the meeting of their National Council on April 7, “the political situation, the costs of ruling and the alliance policy” in case coalition partners should not assume responsibility and adopt the package of laws on Justice reform, said Valeriu Stoica, PNL (Liberal Party) prime vice-president, who nonetheless maintained that irrespective of the allies’ position, his party would not give up ruling. The Liberal announcement comes as a reaction to the Peasants’ and President Constantinescu’s recent reticence toward the intention announced by Valeriu Stoica and supported by PNL on the Government’s assuming responsibility for the laws of Justice. At the same time, the Liberals are discontent with the fact that the replacement of Victor Babiuc was settled without the previous consent of the party. PN?CD (Peasants’ Party) found the opportunity to offer a reply to PNL for their decision to leave CDR (Romanian Democrat Convention) during local elections and for their demand to co-preside the alliance that won the 1996 elections. Stoica on Wednesday evening met President Emil Constantinescu who, according to some sources within PNL leadership, said that the laws on reform within the Justice sector should be first discussed by a group of experts, as it had been agreed during Tuesday meeting of coalition parties’ leaders. The Liberal leader reminded however on Thursday, during a press conference, that “President Constantinescu expressed a favourable position to the Government’s assuming responsibility, during the balance meeting of the ministry of Justice.” Constantinescu on Friday met PN?CD and PNL representatives, in a bid to come to a single point of view as to the request made by the Liberals. According to Stoica, the idea of the Government’s assuming responsibility had been supported before, during Government sessions, by Premier Mugur Isarescu and Transports minister Traian Basescu. He qualified as “unexplainable” the opposition of PD (Democrat Party) against such a procedure being taken on and maintained that “there is an important difference” between PD and PN?CD positions regarding this issue. The Peasants stated on Wednesday evening that they wanted the laws initiated by Stoica to be brought under discussion in Parliament and that they would accept the respective laws’ promotion through the Government’s assuming responsibility “only in an extreme situation and following a pertinent analysis of specialists of each party.” PN?CD leaders were to propose during yesterday’s meeting, according to sources within the party’s leadership, that the package of laws on Justice reform should not be entirely subject to the procedure of responsibility assumption, but that the parties should “amiably” negotiate what laws should be subject to parliamentary procedures, which laws are to be turned into emergency ordinances and how many laws are to be passed through the Government’s assuming responsibility. PN?CD considers that the laws on Justice reform must be promoted through different methods, as their subject and importance are heterogeneous, while the Liberals say they represent a “coherent reform,” the only way to endorse reform during the current legislature being through the Government’s assuming responsibility. PD vice-president Radu Berceanu on Thursday said that PD “does not in principle oppose” the package of laws on reform of Justice initiated by Valeriu Stoica, considering though that ahead of issuing an opinion on the Government’s assuming responsibility in Parliament for these normative documents, it must analyse the “750 pages” of the package of laws.