Controversies Regarding Undercover Agents

President Traian Bascu and Prime Minister Victor Ponta seem unable to give up their long-lasting political strife.

România Internațional, 15.10.2014, 01:44

Archrivals president Basescu and the country’s Social-Democrat Prime Minister Victor Ponta seem to have taken the controversy between them far beyond the borders of political decency in a country that, from many viewpoints, belongs to the Euro-Atlantic world. From expressing their position, oftentimes in a loud and inappropriate language — on crucial issues ranging from economy and justice to foreign policy — the old rift between the two political enemies has become even more personal.

The latest in this long line of divergences has been the accusation the president leveled against the Prime Minister referring to the time when the latter was a prosecutor, between 1997 and 2001, and when he allegedly worked as undercover agent for the Romanian Foreign Intelligence Service (SIE), an institution that is very appreciated by the country’s Western partners and enjoys a good image in Romania as well. According to president Basescu, Victor Ponta was incompatible with his status, as the law did not allow him to concurrently hold the position of magistrate and that of SIE agent. And in order to thicken the plot of the story, president Basescu raised up the ante saying that in 2013, a Ponta-led cabinet, without getting the green light from the country’s Higher Defence Council, which according to Basescu should be mandatory, issued a decision that expanded the scope of classified intelligence so as to cover former SIE agents.

The president said that the decision, aimed at building an amour around the Prime Minister, was endorsed by the government with the complicity of the former SIE head, Teodor Melescanu. President Basescu has accused Melescanu of having sidestepped the law that grants the president access to any kind of information, including classified information. Prime Minister Ponta and the former head of the Romanian Foreign Intelligence Service Teodor Melescanu were quick to respond to the president’s accusations.

In a manner already familiar to the public, the Prime Minister has called the president a liar adding that if the law was broken then, there are institutions mandated to investigate and decide who should be held accountable. In turn, Melescanu has stated that under the law he cannot either deny or confirm that the Prime Minister was an undercover officer. SIE has stated that answering questions regarding the identity of certain undercover agents is not among its responsibilities, while the Justice Minister Robert Cazanciuc has said that he’s not allowed to know which institutions have undercover agents working for them. The fresh row, pundits say, is indicative of the fierce fight on the Romanian political battlefield and the lack of maturity of an entire political class, 25 years after the demise of the communist regime in Romania.