Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu

Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu
60th Prime Minister of Romania
In office 29 December 2004 – 22 December 2008
President	Traian Băsescu Nicolae Văcăroiu
Preceded by	Eugen Bejinariu (Acting)
Succeeded by	Emil Boc
Leader of the National Liberal Party in the Chamber of Deputies
Incumbent
Assumed office 15 December 2008
Preceded by	Crin Antonescu
Minister of Foreign Affairs Acting
In office 21 March 2007 – 5 April 2007
Preceded by	Mihai-Răzvan Ungureanu
Succeeded by	Adrian Cioroianu
Minister of Industry and Commerce
In office 12 December 1996 – 5 December 1997
Prime Minister	Victor Ciorbea
Preceded by	Alexandru Stănescu
Succeeded by	Mircea Ciumara
Constituency	Number 42 – Bucharest
Personal details
Born	14 January 1952 (1952-01-14) (age 59) Bucharest, Romania
Political party	National Liberal Party
Spouse(s)	Cornelia Tăriceanu (Divorced) Livia Tăriceanu (Divorced) Ioana Tăriceanu
Children	Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu Mihai Popescu-Tăriceanu
Alma mater	Technical University of Civil Engineering of Bucharest
Profession	Constructions engineer
Religion	Roman Catholicism[citation needed]
Website	Personal webpage

Călin Constantin Anton Popescu-Tăriceanu (Romanian pronunciation: [kəˈlin konstanˈtin anˈton poˈpesku təriˈtʃe̯anu]) (born 14 January 1952) is a Romanian politician. He was the Prime Minister of Romania between 29 December 2004 and 22 December 2008. He is the former president of the National Liberal Party (PNL) and the vice-president of the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party (ELDR), two positions he assumed in 2004.

Personal life

Calin Popescu-Tăriceanu was born in Bucharest. His mother, Alexandrina Louise Lăzărescu, is of Greek ancestry^[1]–her mother was fully Greek while her father was half-Romanian, half-Greek.^[2] He has been married three times and has two children.^[3] Popescu-Tăriceanu is a graduate of the Technical Constructions Institute in Bucharest and has a Master's Degree in Mathematics and Computer Science.

Beginnings in politics

Between 1996 and 1997, he served as Minister of Industries and Commerce in Victor Ciorbea's government. Between 1996 and 2004 he was a member of the Chamber of Deputies of Romania, representing Bucharest. Between 2000 and 2004, he was vice president of the PNL group in Parliament, as well as vice president of the Budget, Finances and Insurance Committee in the Chamber of Deputies.^[4]

Premiership

Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu

Following the victory of Traian Băsescu in the 2004 presidential election, Băsescu appointed Popescu-Tăriceanu as Prime Minister, in line with a pre-electoral agreement between the two parties of the Justice and Truth Alliance. The new government took office on 29 December; it was approved by Parliament by a vote of 265 for and 200 against.

On 7 July 2005, Popescu-Tăriceanu announced that he and his cabinet would resign in order to trigger early elections. The announcement of the resignation was prompted by the Constitutional Court's decision to block a set of laws designed to reform the judicial system. President Traian Băsescu had been pushing for early elections since his victory in the 2004 elections. On 19 July, Popescu-Tăriceanu reversed the decision and announced he would not resign, citing the severe floods that hit the country (for example the Comăneşti floods). Floods killed 66 people in Romania that year, leaving thousands homeless.^[5] At that point, relations began to publicly sour between Popescu-Tăriceanu and President Băsescu, who refused to meet with the Prime Minister in the days following the announced reversal.

In the view of former President Emil Constantinescu, however, relations between Popescu-Tăriceanu and President Băsescu started to become strained following allegations of Băsescu's past membership in the Securitate (during Communist Romania).^{[citation needed]}

In September 2005, a newspaper alleged that on 9 April 2004, Tăriceanu bought 10 million shares of the Rompetrol company based on insider information^{[citation needed]}, shares that were sold later that year after he became Prime Minister. Several other publicly known persons were cited to testify about their involvement in questionable transactions with Rompetrol shares, including the company's CEO, Dinu Patriciu.

On 5 April 2006 Basescu stated that he regrets naming Tariceanu Prime-Minister, and accused him of partnership with other groups.^[6]

On 29 June 2006, Tăriceanu officially announced that the National Liberal Party supports the withdrawal of Romanian troops from international battle zones where they are deployed without a mandate from the United Nations, NATO, or the European Union. This mainly concerns the Romanian troops in Iraq (present there following the Iraq War). This position is strongly opposed by President Băsescu.^{[citation needed]}

On 14 March 2007, Popescu-Tăriceanu postponed the elections for the European Parliament claiming that the political environment was too unstable due to discussions regarding President's impeachment, the subsequent referendum, and the fact that President Basescu asked for a referendum regarding uninominal elections.^{[citation needed]} The media also pointed out that Popescu-Tăriceanu's National Liberal Party stood to perform poorly in the elections if they were held at the time.^{[citation needed]}

Traian Băsescu (left) and Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu (right)

On 21 March 2007, he assumed ad interim the office of Minister of Foreign Affairs, 43 days after Ungureanu's resignation, because President Băsescu refused to accept the nomination of Adrian Cioroianu. On 5 April 2007, the Constitutional Court decided "The Romanian President's refusal to name a member of Government at the proposal of Prime Minister started a jurisdictional conflict of a constitutional nature.[...] The Romanian President has no right to veto, but he can ask the Prime Minister to renounce his proposal, if he observes that the proposed person does not meet the legal conditions required to be a member of Government".^[7] The same day, Cioroianu assumed the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs.

On 1 April 2007, Tariceanu dismissed the ministers of the pro-Băsescu Democratic Party and formed a minority government with the Democratic Union of Hungarians;^[8] the government was approved by Parliament on 3 April, with the support of the Social Democratic Party.^[9]

Popescu-Tăriceanu's government survived a no-confidence vote on 3 October 2007, following a motion brought by the Social Democratic Party. Although 220 members of parliament voted in favor of the motion and only 152 voted against it, the motion fell short of the necessary 232 votes.^[10]

Controversies

Tăriceanu has been accused by President Băsescu of interfering with justice in Dinu Patriciu's benefit, because prosecutors detained Patriciu for longer than the 24 hours allowed by law.^[11]

On 24 January 2006, Monica Macovei, then Minister of Justice, made public a meeting with Tăriceanu which took place 7 months before (in June 2005), and to which Tăriceanu invited Dinu Patriciu. Patriciu complained to Macovei about alleged procedural problems regarding his case. Macovei accused Tăriceanu of interfering with justice. On 20 February 2006 Tăriceanu declared on TVR1:" I recognise my fault. I didn't act correctly. But I didn't influence justice."(Romanian)"Îmi recunosc vina. Nu am procedat corect. Dar nu am influenţat justiţia"^[12]

Elena Udrea recalled that, while she was Presidential Counsellor, she saw a note written by Tăriceanu. In a few days President Băsescu found the note and made it public, saying that "The Prime Minister suggested to me a partnership, but, unfortunately, with our oligarchies"(Romanian)"Domnul prim-ministru imi propunea un parteneriat, dar, din pacate, cu oligarhiile noastre". The note was about a complaint from Petromidia about the 27 May procedure problems:

Dear Traian,
1. I send you annexed a document released by Petromidia, regarding the ongoing investigations.
2. If you have the opportunity to speak at the Prosecuting Magistracy about the subject?^[13]

In May 2007, Patriciu won a lawsuit against Romanian Intelligence Service(SRI), who illegally tapped his phones for two years. He received from SRI 50,000 RON as moral prejudice.^[14]

See also

• Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu Cabinet

References

1. ^ Press Releases-"The perception about Romania has improved in the last months", have said to the Prime Minister Calin Popescu-Tariceanu the representatives of the Hellenic Association from Romania and those of the Romanian Orthodox Community "Stefan cel Mare si Sfant", that he met to Athena, in the evening
2. ^ "Premierul Tariceanu preocupat de romanii emigrati in Grecia", Ziua, 7 July 2005.
3. ^ "Morcovul şi Conopida", Kritik.
4. ^ Calin Popescu-Tariceanu, Vicepresedinte al Partidului National Liberal, Membru al Camerei Deputatilor
5. ^ EurMonitor Guvernare: Inundatii dezastruoase Transparenta Guvernare europeana: Integrare uniunea europeana stiri UE eveniment finantari aderare joburi – EurActiv.ro
6. ^ Cotidianul:Basescu: Regret ca l-am numit pe Tariceanu premier
7. ^ Antena 3: Comunicat de presa al Curtii constitutionale
8. ^ "Romania's prime minister names new Cabinet of minority government", Associated Press (International Herald Tribune), 2 April 2007.
9. ^ Adam Brown, "Romanian Lawmakers Approve New Cabinet in First Test of Support", Bloomberg.com, 3 April 2007.
10. ^ "Romania's government survives no-confidence motion", Associated Press (International Herald Tribune), 3 October 2007.
11. ^ U.S. Department of State:Country Reports on Human Rights Practices – 2005
12. ^ Tariceanu despre intalnirea din 2005 cu Macovei si Patriciu: Nu am procedat corect – Realitatea TV – Politică
13. ^ HotNews.ro – Basescu dezvaluie continutul biletelului trimis de Tariceanu
14. ^ BBC:Dinu Patriciu câştigă procesul împotriva SRI

Bibliography

• Evenimentul Zilei, 14 December 2005, "Emil Constantinescu a adus documente despre care spune că atestă colaborarea preşedintelui Traian Băsescu cu Securitatea"
• Jurnalul National, 9 February 2006. "Urmează Tăriceanu?"

Political offices
Preceded by Alexandru Stănescu	Minister of Industry and Commerce 1996–1997	Succeeded by Mircea Ciumara
Preceded by Eugen Bejinariu Acting	Prime Minister of Romania 2004–2008	Succeeded by Emil Boc
Preceded by Mihai Răzvan Ungureanu	Minister of Foreign Affairs Acting 2007	Succeeded by Adrian Cioroianu
Party political offices
Preceded by Theodor Stolojan	President of the National Liberal Party 2004–2009	Succeeded by Crin Antonescu

Persondata
Name	Popescu-Tariceanu, Calin
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	14 January 1952
Place of birth	Bucharest, Romania
Date of death
Place of death