The president of the Romanian Senate, Calin Popescu-Tăriceanu, promises to the Romanian head of state, Klaus Johannis, in an open letter, that he will fight, together with all people of good faith, to “disrupt ‘the parallel’ state”, to find out the truth about the workings of this system and how the participants “usurp” the power designated by democratic elections.
“I promise you, Mr. President, that not only I don’t help the policy promoted by you, I’ll be fighting together with all the people of good faith, for the disruption of ‘the parallel state’, and to find out the truth about the mechanisms of this system and of the participants in the usurpation of the democratically elected Government”, – it is stated in the open letter addressed by Tăriceanu to Iohannis.
Tăriceanu said he is not afraid of the dossiers “made to order” by Codruta Kovesi [Chief Prosecutor at Direcţia Naţională Anticorupţie] and by any other tools used by “the parallel state” for the apprehension, compromise, condemnation or removal from public life of political opponents.
“I start by expressing my regret about the attack that you launched today at my address as President of the Senate, totally unsuitable to the dignity of a President of the country, both in its language and in its argumentation. This manner of public expression reveals your state of nervousness which I can understand, but I can’t accept, a state generated by a series of truths about you that you might not agree, but which have become notorious and which I reiterated in public the other day. There are truths that not many dare to present in public for fear of retaliation by those using dossiers and handcuffs. Well, I’m not afraid of any fabricated dossiers at the command of your assiduous collaborator, Codruta Kovesi, or of any other tools used by ‘the parallel state’ for the arrest, compromising, even the conviction or removal from public life of your political opponents, said Tăriceanu, to the head of state.
The president of the Senate believes that the head of the state is “the product of occult forces”, with the role to execute the plans of the “parallel state”.
“[The evidence] is concrete. You said today that in Romania there are no occult forces, no forces of the underground and no ‘parallel state’. Yes, there are, Mr. President, and you are the product of these forces, having the role to execute exactly and on time the occult plans of the ‘parallel state’. Just don’t imagine that you won the 2014 elections for your non-existent political merits or for the illegalities you committed as Mayor of Sibiu! No. You have been chosen by ‘the parallel state’ to win elections because you are blackmail-able with your own criminal dossiers and, therefore, easy to be handled by those who really controls ‘the parallel state’. When it comes to political opponents, your favorite meme is: ‘criminal’. What adjective do you think would suit you, after you proved that your family obtained by forgery and use of forgery valuable residential properties in Sibiu in the period when you were Mayor?”, added Tăriceanu.
He supports his claim concerning the existence of the “state parallel” on the basis of the disclosures made in the parliamentary committees.
“My assertion that ‘the parallel state’ exists is based on the very many extremely concrete revelations, with subject and predicate, made by persons who have known the inner workings of the evil system. The revelations were made during hearings in the legitimate parliamentary committees and have become notorious through the media. For lack of arguments and not wanting the public to find out more, you have chosen the method of mindless denial of evidence and, in addition, you have also declined, as the head of the CSAT, to take remedies that would address the hardcore facts presented to the Parliament, although you had an obligation to do just that,” explained Tăriceanu in the open letter.
The president of the Senate says that “the parallel state” tried to reduce the Parliament to silence, but “failed”.
“You said about me that I’m obsessed with respect to ‘the parallel state’, which obsession appeared after the prosecutors brought me to the attention of the justice. In reality, things are exactly the opposite. My criticism is consistent with regard to the abusive practices of the DNA and SRI in the period under Maior — Coldea, in a word of the ‘parallel state’, and that criticism is the cause – and not the effect – of a dossier being produced against me. In addition, I remind you that I’ve been making these public criticisms for a long time, about 3 years. ‘The parallel state’, which keeps the President under its patronage, tried as in other cases to silence me, but what you see is that the prescription has failed,” said Tăriceanu.
He accuses Johannis of not wanting an independent Judiciary but one that would support the perpetuation of the mechanisms of the “parallel state”.
“With reference to my person, you said that I don’t ‘serve too well politically’. You’re right, I don’t serve too well the policy promoted by you. You have the right to express a point of view, but by the same token so do I. As a result, because the laws regarding the judiciary just happen to be on the Parliament’s agenda, I’ll share my opinion on this topic, to see who does not serve well politically. Mr. President, your desire, clearly expressed in official statements, is for the laws to remain as they are now. Are you satisfied with the work of DEA under the leadership of Laura Kovesi? You don’t mind all the proven abuses, you don’t mind brutal violation of human rights etc., you still want to be the one who nominates the heads of major Prosecutor Offices and the HCCJ, as this way you can control the Justice. This is in spite of the declarations by which you claim that you want a Justice system independent of politics. Your position on this issue is the most convincing evidence that you do not want an independent Judiciary, but one controlled by your lordship in support of the perpetuation of the mechanisms of ‘the parallel state’. Without this ‘parallel state’, you have no chance to survive politically,” believes the president of the Senate.
Tăriceanu recalled that, in February 2016, he submitted to Parliament a bill which proposed that the heads of the major Prosecutor Offices and the HCCJ should be appointed by the CSM and not by any political factor, such as is the President of Romania.
“Through this bill I wanted a real independence of Justice, but you have resisted the public will. On the one hand you declare that you have confidence in the CSM, but, on the other hand, you don’t want to give up control over the Judiciary. This sleight of hand makes bad policy. Last but not least, I draw attention to one of the other statements that you made today, by which you publicly came out against a decision of the Constitutional Court regarding the introduction of a threshold of monetary value for embezzlement charges [in conformity with EU Legislation] when prosecuting fraud under the article of ‘abuse of office’. In recent years it has been a custom required of political leaders not to politicize the decisions of the RCC by making public criticism of such decisions. It is a custom that I respected, for I respect the Constitution. You broke it and, even worse, you feed a so-called public opinion according to which the decisions of the RCC and the Constitution itself are respected only when they serve your own interests. It induces thus the perception that the decisions of the Constitutional Court are not binding, that they can be questioned and, therefore, that the fundamental Law of the State can be questioned”, said Tariceanu.
President Klaus Iohannis said on Thursday that in Romania there are no occult forces, no underground forces, and claimed that the president of the Senate, Calin Popescu-Tăriceanu, creates the impression sometimes that he is “a little obsessed”.
“In Romania there are no occult forces, no underground forces and with certainty there is no parallel state in Romania. (…) For a while I’ve followed the statements of the gentleman mentioned by you [i.e., Senate President, Mr. Tăriceanu], who was once even prime minister. He has said interesting things a few times, but for quite a while now, believe me, I don’t follow his statements, because he has become increasingly weird. Sometimes he creates the impression that he is a little obsessed. However, people who are a little bit obsessed do not make good policy, and, ironically, this behavior has been showing up more and more since the prosecutors have brought this gentleman to justice,” said Iohannis at the Cotroceni Palace.
AGERPRES/(AS — author: Livia Popescu, editor: Georgiana Tanasescu, online editor: Gabriela Badea)
Translated by Algora
