Adrian the Great

Premier Adrian Nastase’s tendency to seize all the power in state seems more and more obvious. Ovidiu Grecea’s dismissal from the leadership of the Control Department of the Government was a first alarm signal. Beyond the controversies related to the affair itself, Grecea’s replacement represented a real authority lesson.
In front of Adrian Nastase everybody should stand still.
On Monday it was the secret service chiefs’ turn. Though neither SRI (Romanian Intelligence Service), nor the Foreign Information Service are subordinate to Government, the chiefs of the two institutions responded promptly, presenting themselves at the Victoria Palace for a meeting with the Premier. Everything was directed so that it seemed it was about a convocation. The topic of the meeting to which other persons participated too, as the Interior minister and the General Prosecutor was, officially, at least, the problem of privatization. The result? The secret services, Nastase announces, will be involved, from now on, in the privatization process too. Under the pretext of the necessity to avoid the selling of some enterprises to doubtful investors, the secret services are invited to get involved in the obtaining of information, which could easily lead to the zone of economic espionage.
But the real stake is the control Adrian Nastase tries to obtain in the power zone, that of the secret services, officially subordinate to the Parliament and whose chiefs are appointed by President Ion Iliescu.
Premier Nastase also talks about the need of a better coordination between these services, on the one hand, and the Interior ministry on the other. The Intelligence service of this ministry is to get increased powers, which has already risen adverse reactions, including the party led by the Premier. The former UM0215, transformed into UM0962, could also get involved in the pursuing actions, including the one of listening to the telephonic calls, that could be related to the so called national security.
The fact that it is about an overlapping of attributions with SRI clearly shows Adrian Nastase’s intention to control everything more and more unscrupulously. The Premier learned very well the lesson because of which his predecessors failed one by one. Blocked between the Presidents’ ambition to do and undo everything in the country and the permanent interest conflict in the economic zone, the Premiers by now found themselves deprived of any real authority in the governing process.
Adrian Nastase won’t let anything to be the others’ decision. He has probably learned that one should program his failures by oneself too. And it is quite likely that he succeeds. (Pavel LUCESCU)