A new conflict between the president and the prime minister
In December 2012, after the parliamentary elections, the Romanian president and the PM signed a pact of cohabitation in an attempt to establish a correct institutional relationship to the benefit of the country, despite the hostility between the two.
Ştefan Stoica, 08.08.2014, 12:46
Who tricked who? Was it president Traian Basescu, who persuaded prime minister Victor Ponta to sign a pact of institutional cohabitation; the prime minister when he kept this agreement secret from the Liberals, his coalition allies; or did both of them deceive the entire public opinion? Now that the pact has been unilaterally denounced by the prime minister, these questions are no longer important. Traian Basescu says, however, that the agreement is essential for Romania and the PM was wrong to break it, urging him to reconsider:
Traian Basescu: “This pact will help him and his government and spare him a lot of explaining. It also gives our partners the feeling that Romania is committed to the European path it has embarked on in its attempt to consolidate its trans-Atlantic relationship and observe the rule of law.”
In a public letter, PM Victor Ponta explained why he considered the cohabitation pact concluded with Traian Basescu to be no longer relevant. Ponta broke the pact over an interview given by the president in which he said he tricked the PM into signing the respective pact. The president says he never said this but admits he was ambiguous in his reply to a journalist’s question about his agreement with the prime minister.
We recall that the pact of cohabitation was signed after the 2012 elections, which were won by the same coalition that in the summer of 2012 unsuccessfully tried to impeach the president. The pact was necessary because Romania’s western partners were giving clear signs that they did not trust a government which a few months before had pushed constitutional boundaries to reach their goal, namely to remove President Traian Basescu from office.
The relationship between the president and the PM was always marked by hostility, accusations and insults. However, their pact generally worked and Romania has not derailed from its democratic path, as many of its foreign partners feared. The relationship between the president and the prime minister has deteriorated this year ahead of the presidential elections in November. After two consecutive terms in office amounting to 10 years as president of Romania, Traian Basescu can no longer run for president. He can, however, state publicly that he will support any right-wing candidate against Victor Ponta in the race for president.
