The announcement regarding the intention of one group of PN?CD politicians, among which several members of the National Leading Bureau, to ask president Diaconescu to resign from his position had massive echoes in the media and generated excitement and anxiety. Such an official demand would have been a premiere even for PN?CD, a party that has become famous for its violent inner conflicts. Ion Diaconescu used to be the only PN?CD personality who had never been contested by anybody. On the contrary, whenever an inside conflict occurred, he was the one to analyse the facts and maintain a certain balance. Even if the plan to make Diaconescu resign did not come into effect, it should not be nevertheless regarded as an insignificant incident. People who took part in the respective meeting and who are aware of the context in which the information regarding the resignation appeared provide arguments that may contradict such an idea.
The secret initiators of the plan are not beginners in the domain of back stage politics, which is a widely spread practice within PN?CD. Vice president Constantin Ionescu-Galbeni and deputy general secretary Remus Opris have been, over the past years, the masterminds behind any political plot. They managed to assert themselves after Coreneliu Coposu's death and to make a victory out of their unique major defeat, that of making it possible for Radu Vasile to join the party once more, in exchange for his resigning from his position as prime minister. The final strike came again from Galbeni and Opris. The former threatened that he would resign from the party's general leading commission, while the latter took advantage of PN?CD leaders' dissatisfaction concerning the activity of Radu Vasile and of the fact that regional support for the prime minister was considerably diminished, as elections promoted organisation presidents who were loyal to the party's general secretary.
Among the politicians who attended the secret meeting were some deputies who had been educated and promoted by Galbeni and Opris: Radu Ghidau, Mihai Gheorghiu, who lost the race for the positions of vice-president and president of the Youth Organisation, Ion Badea former vice president, who no longer enjoyed any support, himself an old man, just like Galbeni and Virgil Petrescu, former ad-interim general secretary and former Education minister.
If we admit that the above mentioned politicians are almost invisible, being more or less a manipulated group, what about the two initiators in the back stage? What are they up to? Do they have a plan? Did they make a mistake? We can answer these questions only after we look into the context in which the events took place.
On one hand, PN?CD must, one way or another, live with its failure in the local elections. So far, PN?CD leaders have tried to convince the media that they were not going to look for any scapegoat. However, it is obvious now that somebody has to be considered responsible for this state of facts. Old disgruntlement against the current leaders will surface in the leading bureau's meeting, unless central leaders prepare some kind of strong reaction against such an offensive. The first signals have already appeared: Mirel ?ariuc's letter, substitute members' demands to call for an extraordinary congress, in which the actual political bureau would be certainly questioned.
Therefore, some heads have to roll. Who will be the first to be sacrificed? Undoubtedly, young wolves who smell the power will try to watch their back. From this point of view, Diaconescu's resignation would be the best solution. Those who look forward to PN?CD president's stepping down argue against his age and his slow reactions. However, how come they haven't noticed it so far?
As a matter of fact, there is another aspect to be taken into consideration. The electoral tension that PN?CD is going to experience is not confined to the Parliament and the presidency. The months to come will be very important for the way PN?CD leadership will look like between 2001 and 2005. The president, the prime vice president as well as the general secretary and the party's vice presidents will be again subject to the votes of the delegates at the congress in 2001 and there is the risk that actual leaders begin the race with a very bad image generated by the results of Parliament elections and by their former government strategies.
Taking all these into account, the little plot organised by Opris and his people appears to be the beginning of a fight. It is a sign that new strategic groups are created after Radu Vasile left the party. New alliances are going to be concluded, new negotiations will take place, while eligible positions on Parliament lists will become less numerous and will therefore acquire increased importance.
Moreover, the plans of the plotters give meaning to the dissatisfaction within the party. Once the issue of Diaconescu's incapacity to deal with PN?CD problems is publicly displayed, both critical and supportive reactions are going to appear. Those who had the same thoughts as Diaconescu's opponents will become allies of the plotters, they will feel relieved and willing to make any effort to get rid of Ion Diaconescu. Therefore PN?CD will head for a leadership renewal, once the octogenarian president is removed. Meanwhile, in the back stage, the authors of the change will keep watching...
Pentru alte știri, analize, articole și informații din business în timp real urmărește Ziarul Financiar pe WhatsApp Channels
