EDITORIAL

The so-called Dalli Parking war ongoing in Bucharest at the same time with the sacking of the city administration bosses is reopening the main issue of doctor Sorin Oprescu's electoral campaign.

Why? Because in his campaign the doctor who was presently elected a general mayor of Romania's capital city was very critical of the forerunners' corruption, an issue always successful in Romania. There was also the fact that he was the beneficiary of credibility coming from his backless status, that is from the fact that he had not support from a political party or at least no explicit support. His adversaries called this kind of electoral campaign demagogical and populist. Anyway, there are to facts impossible to deny: Sorin Oprescu won elections due to a good score and he did not succeed by promoting I don't know what projects on the development of Bucharest. He succeeded due to attacks against corruption. Therefore he has now got to prove, even partly, what he said a few months ago and to keep his promise. He must take up a warrior's conduct and act like the apostle of law and justice. He must prove incorruptible and able to diminish, if not to eliminate, corruption in the Bucharest City Hall. The unavoidable effect of it is that there are people that the new general mayor disturbs a lot. Who's afraid of Sorin Oprescu?

The Democrat-Liberal Party, in fact ruled by the Romanian President Traian Basescu, was his adversary. The President assailed Sorin Oprescu straight and several times, whereas the other parties were rather pretending to oppose him. We know that in the second tour of the local elections the electorate of parties other than the Democrat-Liberal one voted for Sorin Oprescu. Once he got power, the latter noticed that the Bucharest council, made up mainly of Democrat-Liberals and representatives of the "New Generation" Party, was hostile to him. So the vice mayors are not the people Sorin Oprescu wanted to be his vice mayors. On the other hand, high rank officials in the City Hall, got their positions due to Traian Basescu and then to Adriean Videanu, so they too are hostile to the doctor. And the third reason for war is the contracts on public funds, which fill the Liberal-Democrats' pockets. IN other words, as far as the latter aspect is concerned, this is about the nucleus made up by the businessmen grouped around Traian Basescu. By postponing his vendetta against the General Council, thought to be too dangerous right now, Sorin Oprescu has opened the two fronts: he is giving the sack to the heads of the main City Hall departments and assailing the most important contracts signed by the previous mayors, contracts he described as fraud. And he has announced that such contracts have been cancelled and that complaints will reach the National Anti-Corruption Department.

It is actually a set of daring activities authored by doctor Oprescu, activities that are very risky. There are two ways in which they may fail. Instead of incompetent and corrupt Democrat-Liberals, there may be appointed other incompetent and corrupt persons, representing different groups of interests. Instead of the big contracts cheating on Bucharest inhabitants we may get other contracts, as harmful as the former, but signed with businessmen affiliated to political groups opposing the Democrat-Liberals. But let's give doctor Oprescu a chance, as natural, and the presumption of well meaningness.

Even so, we still need an insight in the means he is using. The Dalli Parking scandal, for instance, is indeed huge. The parking business of the Golden Blitz group means a profit of 3, 000 Euro an hour. Under the reign of the Basescu-Videanu tandem, it reached as high as almost half a billion Euro. The contract was obviously meant for huge tips, still it may not be sacked in legal terms before you could say Jack Robinson. Sorin Oprescu may lose if he is hasty. He needs skilled jurists for all the contracts. And the sack given to the City Hall department heads is another juridical threat hard to untangle. So from now on there are tough days ahead for the mayor.

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