P 151253Z JUN 09
FM AMEMBASSY BUCHAREST
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9607

UNCLAS BUCHAREST 000402 
 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/CE 
NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL RO
SUBJECT:  SENATE PRESIDENT GEOANA RESIGNS FROM NATIONAL DEFENSE 
COUNCIL 
 
¶1. (SBU) Mircea Geoana, the president of the Social-Democratic Party 
(PSD) and President of the Senate, announced on June 7 (the day of 
the European Parliamentary elections) he was resigning his position 
as vice-chair of the National Defense Council (CSAT).  In explaining 
his decision, Geoana accused President Basescu of "abusing the 
symbol of the military, the sacrifice and devotion of Romanian 
soldiers for electoral purposes" in connection with Basescu's visits 
to Romanian troops in Iraq and Afghanistan on June 4 and 6, 
respectively.  The visits came just before the official closing of 
the electoral campaign and one day before the vote.  Geoana 
characterized the visits as evidence of politicizing the military. 
Furthermore, Geoana criticized the President for unilaterally 
announcing the withdrawal of Romanian troops from Iraq without 
(Geoana alleged) properly informing the CSAT and the Parliament.  In 
an open letter to the President, Geoana postured that this behavior 
was not compatible with a democratic state, and by stepping down 
from the CSAT, he grandly claimed to be emphatically turning his 
back on "domestic and international actions by which President 
Basescu brings political benefits to his party." 
 
BASESCU WELCOMES GEOANA'S DECISION 
 
¶2. (SBU) President Basescu staged a special press conference on June 
9 to respond to Geoana's accusations.  He welcomed Geoana's decision 
to give up his CSAT membership, contrasting it with Geoana's 
insistence six months ago to have the law changed to allow the 
Senate President to be a CSAT member.  Basescu also recalled 
previous Geoana positions, including his opposition to the 
recently-concluded IMF deal and his 2006 call for a precipitous 
pullout of Romanian troops from Iraq.  Basescu reminded Geoana that 
he participated in the parliamentary decision to extend the presence 
of the troops in Iraq last December and the subsequent CSAT decision 
in January.  Basescu underscored that the Memorandum between Romania 
and Iraq clearly provided that Romanian troops would leave Iraq 
before July 31, 2009 and that the Memorandum was adopted by the full 
Parliament on May 12, 2009.  Basescu explained that the day of his 
visit to Iraq (June 4) had been decided long before by the generals 
of the Multi National Force and had no relationship to the electoral 
campaign.  At the same time, Basescu invoked a tradition of combined 
visits to the two operations theaters where Romanian troops are 
active, and noted it would have been "impolite" not to travel to 
Afghanistan as well.  President Basescu then expressed his pleasure 
that the complex mission that started in 2003 was successfully 
completed six years later and that Romania resisted previous 
internal pressures to pull out from Iraq earlier. 
 
PRESIDENTIAL POSTURING FOR MR. GEOANA 
 
¶3. (SBU) During the formation of the new government in December 
2008, Geoana wanted to shadow Basescu and to have an increased role 
in foreign affairs and national security issues.  Given his clear 
ambitions to become president himself, Geoana refused to assume any 
governmental portfolio in the new PSD-PDL coalition.  Instead he 
chose to become the constitutional "number two" in the Romanian 
state, i.e. President of the Senate, who is next in line to replace 
the incumbent President if the latter is unable to fulfill his 
duties.  The office provides a good platform for a presidential 
candidate. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Geoana coveted some presidential prerogatives right away. 
During the negotiations for a new governing coalition, he 
successfully convinced his coalition partners from the PDL to 
support allowing the Senate President to become the second 
vice-chair of CSAT.  (Note:  The President of Romania is the CSAT 
chair and the Prime Minister is its vice-chair).  Therefore, one of 
the first decisions of the PDL-PSD government was to amend the CSAT 
law to make this membership change through an "Emergency Ordinance" 
(EO 224 of December 30, 2008). 
 
¶5. (SBU) Because EOs enter into force immediately, Geoana could in 
his new capacity attend the four CSAT meetings scheduled in the 
first part of 2009.  At the same time, the EO was sent to the 
Parliament where both chambers eventually endorsed it on May 4. 
However, final approval and signing of EO 224 into law by the 
President is pending a decision of the Constitutional Court, which 
is weighing a challenge from a group of opposition National Liberal 
Party (PNL) legislators to the measure's constitutionality.  The 
main argument of the PNL legislators is that the EO and the law 
adopting it breach the principle of the separation of powers, since 
the CSAT is part of the Executive Branch, which only reports to the 
Parliament on a yearly basis.  The Parliament should not, in their 
view, have a representative on the National Defense Council. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Comment:  The presidential election campaign will only pick 
up momentum from here.  Meanwhile, the Constitutional Court is 
expected in the coming days to rule on the PNL's challenge to 
Geoana's position in the CSAT.  Insiders told PolOffs that the Court 
seems likely to accept the PNL's argument that it is 
unconstitutional.  To be forced out by a court ruling would be a 
serious blow for Geoana and would cast his earlier persistence in 
getting on the CSAT in a bad light.  It is therefore understandable 
that Geoana, to save face, is pre-empting that scenario by inventing 
a Basescu-related excuse for leaving the Council before the 
Constitutional Court announces its decision.  Geoana's credibility 
is at stake, which explains his pretext and excellent timing 
(Election Day) to announce his unilateral decision to give up his 
CSAT membership.  He may even hope that he can benefit politically 
if he succeeds in linking his decision to the alleged mishandling of 
the CSAT by President Basescu. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Comment continued:  At the same time, Geoana wants to 
present himself as a serious challenger to President Basescu and as 
a much more responsible would-be president.  We have been told by 
PSD contacts that Geoana was advised for his own electoral benefit 
not to miss any opportunity to attack Basescu and to help his party 
distance itself from Basescu's PDL (a tough act when the two parties 
share the governing coalition).  Over the last few months, Geoana 
has not been shy in challenging Basescu on major strategic issues, 
such as political reform, the IMF deal, and the relationships with 
Russia and Moldova, as well as on procurement of multi-role fighter 
planes and on the best timing for the pullout of troops from Iraq. 
Knowing that many of these issues involve important equities for the 
U.S., PSD contacts privately assure us that Geoana is not serious on 
many of them (such as his comments against the procurement of a 
replacement for Romania's aging MiG-21 fleet), but that this is all 
just part of his pre-electoral campaign posturing.  In relations 
with the United States, as with internal coalition politics, it 
would appear Geoana is trying to have it both ways.  End comment. 
 
GUTHRIE-CORN