The phrase “early elections” becomes the powerplay of the day for Romanian media on Monday as newspapers debate the findings of a new poll and a key minister calls for an early poll as a means of support for the reform of the Justice system.

Stories related to ex-dictator Ceausescu’s political police, the Securitate, blend well with those regarding the presence of Arab students in Romania. One newspaper interviews a top representative of the Hamas government in the Palestinian territories, while others discuss plans by Britain’s Prince Charles to buy a property in Romania.

Evenimentul Zilei interviews Justice minister Monica Macovei who says she supports the idea of early elections, an issue that returns regularly to the forefront of the political debate as a way to put an end to the current power struggle within the governing alliance.

Macovei argues that early elections are necessary for the good pace of Justice reform, which has faced trouble in Parliament for the past several months.

The issue of early elections is also present in reports related to a new opinion poll published this weekend.

According to Gandul, one of the key findings of the study is that most Romanians are in favor of early elections, which would see the current governing alliance of Liberals and Democrats retain power, but with a 2% loss (44%) in favour of the opposition.

The biggest opposition party would not garner more than 22% of the votes if elections took place now.

Cotidianul also discusses the study and shows how revelations that respected Romanian MP Mona Musca collaborated with the Securitate cost her 13% in the level of trust among Romanian voters. Still, with 33%, she remains one of the most trusted politicians in Romania.

And the newspaper notes the fast growing level of trust in maverick politician Gigi Becali, the owner of the Steaua Bucharest football club, who is trusted by 38% of Romanians - up 7% compared to the previous poll.

Speaking of the Securitate, Jurnalul National publishes excerpts from documents from the archives of the former communist secret police, which it calls “an Eye sick with suspicion” that shifts the shape of Romanians’ life under communist dictatorship.

The documents tell the story of tourism guides providing information on suspicious moves by foreigners - but also their evaluation of Socialist services; how the Jewish community was kept under observation; and how a Defense minister was put under surveillance after the Soviet invasion in Czechoslovakia.

Meanwhile, Cotidianul reports that hundreds of foreign students, most of them Arabs, have obtained grants from the Romanian Cultural Institute under the former management of Augustin Buzura. But they are nowhere to be found and the criteria for their evaluation to receive such grants remain unknown, the newspaper reports.

The same Cotidianul newspaper interviews Ghazi Hamad, spokesperson for the Hamas Government of the Palestinian Authority.

He says the Palestinian Authority is still in the phase of discussions for the formation of a government of national unity and that while Hamas agrees with Israeli-Palestinian talks, but recognizing the Jewish state is something “different”.

Also on foreign affairs issues, Gandul quotes the latest issue of Sunday Times, according to which Prince Charles will buy a farm in the Transylvanian village of Viscri in the hope of boosting tourism in the area and revitalizing the community, which has been included in the international fund of monuments.

The farm, now in ruin, dates back to the early 1800’s and follows an administrative plan dating back to the era of Vlad the Impaler, the medieval leader that stands at the origin of the Dracula myth. Prince Charles last visited Viscri in May this year, when he spent two nights in the village, according to the newspaper.