A lucid counting is enough to show that, at least in terms of number, Traian Basescu's achievements outnumber his failures, since he managed to score in opinion polls anytime one of his political actions succeeded or not to decline too much when he failed. but if we take into account the importance of the events Traian Basescu triggered, things change completely. In the history of Romanian politics 2007 will be the year when, for the first time, a President was suspended! The man who seemed to be the eternal victor in political battles had to go home for 30 days, although till the last second had he hoped that the MPs would not dare vote for his suspension. This is how the "resign in 5 minutes" story came to being. In the public eye it destroyed a myth such as Traian Basescu's relentlessness and security. It was by no coincidence that when the referendum was over the President was out of his minds and he offended the journalist working for Antena 1 TV station. The "filthy gypsy" story proved that the time when suspended had made Mr. President nervous! Suspension did certainly change Traian Basescu a lot, turning him into a sort of Mike Tyson who, when going back to the boxing ring after the first defeat, bit his adversary's ear for fear of new failure. Another failure Traian Basescu went through was his inability to let the Liberals without power and his acts got to look like the American boxer's more and more. I don't think there is one means the President didn't use this year to sack PM Calin Popescu Tariceanu: his attempt to make the National Liberal Party split, his support to have the Liberal ministers investigated by prosecutors, his ceaseless offenses against the press and so on. The President's last hope to see the PM sacked was related to the election of MEPs, as he was counting on a poor score for the National Liberal Party. It was just that the latter's 14% confirmed the Liberal electorate's stability and therefore the consolidation of Calin Popescu Tariceanu's position. Maybe it was this failure of his that made him force the Democrat Party, a party he is fond of, proceed to fusion with the Liberal-Democrat Party led by Theodor Stolojan. It is a sort of punishment for the Democrats' insufficient involvement in Traian Basescu's personal war. On the other hand, it is obvious that people like Cristian Boureanu, Raluca Tircan and even Theodor Stolojan scored more than himself in this war! Even if the Democrats' score in the election of MEPs was much less than estimated in opinion polls, it is by far the best score this party got so far. Therefore the fusion can't be seen as a need, but only as a way for Traian Basescu to express his personal wishes. But 2007 is sure to be a successful year in the eyes of Traian Basescu's supporters, but there will be few to dare visit Cotroceni Palace to get congratulations on the New Year's Eve. Except for Elena Udrea, most Democrats will just send the President some plain SMSs and thus avoid rough replies on their 2007 activity. After all, the snow mattered more than the Democrat giants in Traian Basescu's battle! The poor snow compromised Liberal Ludovic Orban, the President's toughest enemy! But I am not telling you what is there to follow in 2008. I don't want to ruin your holidays!

ION SPANU