http://www.neurope.eu/view_news.php?id=74181 Upon resuming office, Basescu under fire from journalists
26 May 2007 - Issue : 731 Romanian President Traian Basescu resumed office on the evening of May 23. This came amid calls by the journalists' federation to boycott the event originally planned for the following day. The boycott was called over accusations Basescu faced of having made racist comments and theft of a mobile telephone following an altercation with a woman journalist. International organisations including Reporters Without Borders and the International Federation of Journalists had backed the boycott call against Basescu, fresh from a clear victory in a weekend referendum to decide on his possible impeachment. Basescu was seen formally resuming office - which he has temporarily given up during the impeachment proceedings - in a ceremony held in pouring rain at Bucharest's Cotroceni Palace. He again rejected allegations of racism following the incident on the weekend before last with the woman journalist, and threatened legal action against the country's National Council for the Struggle against Discrimination. The incident occurred as the reporter, with a private television station, recorded footage of Basescu on her mobile phone as he was shopping with his wife in a Bucharest supermarket. As the president was packing his purchases into his car, the reporter questioned him on what was the expected outcome of the impeachment referendum. An angry Basescu responded: "have you nothing better to do?" He then snatched the journalist's telephone and drove from the scene, reports said. As he departed, the president is alleged to have commented to his wife on how aggressive the reporter was, describing the woman as a "stinking gypsy." The mobile telephone, which was still recording, is alleged to have captured his comment. Basescu's security staff are believed to have neglected to delete the recording before the telephone was later returned to the journalist. A spokesman for the president on May 21 said Basescu expressed regret that "an inappropriate comment during a private conversation had been made public." Basescu scored around 75 percent backing in the May 19 referendum, engineered by opposition and government parties over the president's alleged interference in political affairs as part of his anti-corruption drive. Copyright C The Media Company S.A. 2006 ---------------------------- Vali "Noble blood is an accident of fortune; noble actions are the chief mark of greatness." (Carlo Goldoni) "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace." (Jimi Hendrix)
