Isarescu to be a president?

Premier Mugur Isarescu is the most popular political personality in Romania. His success is the more significant the more his image doesn’t seem affected neither by the modest government’s performance he is leading, nor by the catastrophic one belonging to the coalition he nevertheless represents on the executive level. His glamour is not touched by the general political climate, confounded by scandals, either.
According to the latest opinion poll, over 70% Romanians believe that Romania is making for a wrong direction or "is going nowhere", 54% think the ongoing government is ruling the country worse and worse or as worse as the former one did. But Isarescu, the head of the government, is still enjoying the greatest trust. Maybe the Romanians have a soft spot in their hearts for the World Bank’s ex-governor.
Thus and so, it came to us the idea, which our newspaper launched it on the popular Fool’s Day on April 1st more or less seriously, starting with our concern on Mugur Isarescu possible candidature to Romania’s presidency. In politics, realism doesn’t exclude the imagination practice. On the contrary, it strongly recommends it. Is it possible such a scenario?
To make it possible, the first condition would be that Mugur Isarescu himself should be willing to do it. Nobody believed in a possible replacement of Radu Vasile or even of Victor Ciorbea with Mugur Isarescu on the grounds that the BNR (the Romanian Central Bank) ex-governor would be the character of no interest in politics kind. He was a sort of a "pure" of local technocracy. No matter how he got the position it is clear now that accepting it, he disclosed and admitted implicitly his weakness for politics. Isarescu does have the virus of politics and power.
Needless to say that the ongoing premier wouldn’t assume such a candidature without a serious political back up from some parties of real significance in the electoral equation. Isarescu is anything but a soldier of fortune. He doesn’t need all the publicity that the other politicians are eager to have. He has class as a banker and that’s how we can explain his long staying in the BNR governor position, so wished-for during the years. As cautious as he is like any banker but also an intelligent speculator of the political power side scenes, Mugur Isarescu is not easy to be seduced by the majority of our politicians’ short-term calculations. For the time being, he can’t rely on anybody but the ongoing power or at least a significant part of it. Emil Constantinesch should give up the presidency and leave room for the new come, Mugur Isarescu, engaging to support him more or less explicitly, which is impossible now. But the president, like any other politician considered being vulnerable, feels it is his duty to play his chance to the utmost. His possible withdrawal from the political run would be unworthy, if not shameful. On the contrary, a start in a competition like this with no chance to win is something else. On the other hand, Constantinescu may think that he has great chances or even the greatest ones to win the elections this year, too. But the polls don’t agree. Before and in 1996, neither the polls nor most of the analysts were in favor of him and he still won. We don’t know to what extent he is still marked by this accident.
Regarding Mugur Isarescu’s chances to successfully candidate for presidency, things are more predictable. He would be nothing else but a compromise among the unlucky candidates and the lucky ones who don’t deserve their chance.
(By Pavel LUCESCU)