Traian Băsescu
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| Office: | Mayor of Bucharest |
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| Term of Office: | |
| Predecessor: | Viorel Lis |
| Successor: | incumbent |
| Date of Birth: | Sunday, November 4, 1951 |
| Place of Birth: | Basarabi, Constanţa |
| Marriage: | Maria Băsescu |
| Profession: | Sailor |
| Political Party: | Democrat |
Traian Băsescu (born November 4 1951) is a Romanian politician. He is the newly elected President of Romania following the 2004 presidential election, and has been Mayor of Bucharest since June 2000.
Family background
His father's family originated from the Băseşti village in Maramureş. Of the same family also belonged Gheorghe Pop de Băseşti, a Romanian politician that militated for unification of Transylvania with Romania and was the president of the Alba-Iulia assembly of 1918.
Career
Băsescu graduated the Navy Institute of Constanţa in 1976 and became a Navy officer at Navrom, the Romanian state-owned shipping company. Between 1981 and 1987 he was the captain of the Biruinţa oil tanker, the largest ship of the Romanian fleet. Then, until 1989, he headed the Navrom Agency in Anvers.
After the downfall of Communism, he entered politics, as a member of the National Salvation Front (FSN), and, subsequently, of the Democratic Party (PD). He was elected president of PD in 2001, defeating Petre Roman.
Băsescu served as Minister of Transport from 1991 to 1992 in Theodor Stolojan's technocratic government, and then again from November 1996 to June 2000 in the governments of Victor Ciorbea, Radu Vasile, and Mugur Isărescu.
In 2000 he was elected to the office of mayor of Bucharest, winning the run-off against PDSR's candidate, Sorin Oprescu, by a very slim margin (50.69% to 49.31%), despite ranking 24% behind him in the first round. He obtained a second term in office in the 2004 Bucharest elections, winning 54.9% of the votes in the first round, against PSD's Mircea Geoană (who received only 29.7% of the votes).
Following Theodor Stolojan's surprise retreat from the 2004 presidential elections, Băsescu entered the presidential race on behalf of the Justice and Truth alliance (forged by the National Liberal Party and his Democratic Party). His main competitor was PSD president and incumbent Prime minister Adrian Năstase. After ranking second in the first round, 7% behind Năstase, Băsescu achieved a surprise comeback and won the December 12 run-off by a 3% margin.
In October and November 2004, during the peak of Romania's election campaign, during a talk-show, he answered that he agrees with the legalization of same-sex marriage. He was the first political candidate in Romania to support the gay cause to such a great extent. The PSD later used this affirmation in a campaign against him.
Controversies
As a Navy officer and captain, Băsescu was accused of involvement with the Communist regime's infamous Securitate, but no proofs were presented.
During his tenure as Minister of Transport, the Romanian commercial fleet was privatised with huge prejudices for the Romanian state. Charges were made against him with regards to this affair, but no evidence of his involvement was proven. In 1996, while under scrutiny, Băsescu resigned his parliamentary mandate in order to allow judicial procedures against him to be carried on (Romanian MP's are by default granted immunity from prosecution). Due to the interpretable phrasing of the Constitution, the High Court of Cassation and Justice will have to decide if Băsescu's immunity as a President only covers his term. The Constitution states the President has immunity and that a previous article regarding MP's immunity over matters regarding their votes or statements made while holding office.
External links
- Basescu.ro: Official site (only in Romanian)
- Traian Basescu's short biography on the Bucharest City Hall site
- Traian Basescu's Curriculum Vitae (only in Romanian)
- BBC Profile: Traian Basescu