President Traian Basescu is meeting the 6 leaders of parliamentary parties today from 12:00 p.m. till 1: 30 p.m. If we believe the press release issued from Cotroceni, the politician ruling the latter palace is to have consulting on hot issues with Tariceanu, Boc, Voiculescu, Bela, Geoana and Vadim. Here are the four points on the agenda: the national security strategy, the constitutional reform, the law project on national minorities and emergency ordinance 124/ 2005 to modify the money laundry law. You don't have to be an expert in politics to realize these are highly important issues. It is no easy job to modify the Constitution, national security is no joke, just as the scandal on national minorities has been on for quite a time and not last corruption is a word everybody utters these days. As a journalist, after learning about the points on today's agenda, you have to think about how to report on them in detail in the newspaper. A daily must do this in order to inform readers. But if you have some basic knowledge of maths, you start asking yourself questions: how will politicians have enough time to have thorough debate on all these points? Cotroceni Palace even claims party leaders may even approach more matter. But how can they do this in 90 minutes? There are 90 minutes set for the presidents of 6 parties, all of them talkative. Vadim is the most talkative of all, but there is also Traian Basescu, who has always got something to add. If those characters gathering round the table behave in keeping with the calendar, every politician will have 12 minutes and 51 seconds for 4 points or 3 minutes and 13 second for every point! There is sure to be some adviser with a timer in his hand to warn politicians their time is approaching the end. Can you picture Vadim, Tariceanu or Voiculescu willing to sum up opinions on such important issues in 3 minutes ? Can you see them uttering their views at light speed? It is actually impossible to approach such issues in 193 seconds. Then why have such consulting? To boast about it in front of the EU or for the agenda's sake? Or do parties learn about the president's claims from the very source so that there will be no misinterpretation? As for this last question, we can see Traian Basescu is right, because it is his very communication department that boycotts the leader of Cotroceni. In the invitation sent o parties the very important issue "Emergency ordinance 124/2005 to modify the money laundry law" is inaccurately phrased, because Ordinance 124/ 2005 is on the modification and adjusting of Law 78/2000 to prevent, disclose and sanction corruption, but not "to modify the money laundry law." In the press release from Cotroceni not even the name of the law is correctly used. Law 656/ 2002 they are to talk about is actually called the "law to prevent and saction money laundry", but not "the money laundry law," which is something completely different.

Mihai PALSU