President can't bear "gang of braggers"

Yesterday the President of Romania Traian Basescu developed upon his favorite topics once again. He explained his view on the pension raise, Bordei Park, the uninominal vote, the Constitution change and especially on why journalists were so hard to bear. He did all this talking in a show on the public radio post.
The head of state insisted that he would promulgate the pension law, on condition that the government provided him with the documentation so that he would make sure the pension funds would be enough till 2013. Basescu outlined it would be "a unique show", had the Parliament been summoned for extraordinary session to pass a new pension law. He commented: "I think it would be a unique show to have Mircea Geoana summon the Parliament once more. (...) Mircea Geoana, Bogdan Olteanu and the whole gang of braggers were asking me to promulgate the law before I received it." (...)
Enraged against journalists
The President let loose his abhorrence of journalists again. He argued: "The thing I would never give up for nothing in the world is my family's privacy. When I am with my wife, I am a private person, even if we are out in the city. I am not with politicians or state structures, I am not doing anything of public interest. And my wife doesn't have to bear what I personally took responsibility for. (...) I will respond every time the press disturbs me and my wife. It is my life and I am not giving it to them. As for the rest, journalists are as free as the birds".
He admitted: "I am at tense terms with those who offend me. But if I tease them a bit, they think a mountain has collapsed. Just watch TV and you will see people go mad when someone dares express an opinion resembling the President's".
President Basescu's rage was obvious: "Journalists are intrigued if one of them gets a depreciative word. But please try to count in one single day how many times you run into words as follow in newspapers: drunkard, stupid, idiot and more. In one single day such words are used 10 times more than I will say in 5 years of mandate. As journalists, you can't address a President this way. On the other hand, the President is supposed to tell himself: 'How brave you are. I like it.' This is impossible".
Bordei Park affair
According to the head of state, the target of the Bordei Park affair was the following: Costica Costanda, owner of the park, wanted to grab the piece of land under the French Village, at present property of Bucharest City Hall. President Basescu explained that it was the Bucharest inhabitants who were actually the owners of the French Village and the buildings there, reaching about 200-300 million Euro. He tried to explain why he had informed the Superior Council of Magistracy and why he had demanded inquiry on the court sentence reached in the Bordei Park case, asking the Bucharest City Hall and General Council to modify the general city plan. The president added that, according to the latter plan, Costanda was allowed to build on only 15% of the green area in the Bordei Park and the buildings were disallowed to have more than 3 floors. He mentioned, according to the plan, in the Floreasca Lake quarter they intended to build restaurants and entertainment places, but not office and bank buildings.

Anca Hriban
Ziua Sambata 14 Iulie 2007 http://www.ziua.net/english