Romanian President Traian Basescu’s decision to push a member of the opposition for the top job in the Romanian Intelligence Service-SRI continues to spark hot debates in political circles.

In an interview for HotNews.ro, George Maior, the Social-Democrat who was nominated as future SRI head, says his nomination is not the result of secret deals and that he received the proposal from President Basescu the same day it was made public.

In his interview, George Maior explains that the President chose to pick a representative of the opposition to run the Intelligence Service because of “a principle” that such services in Romania must adapt to the course of democracy.

George Maior was known for a series of legislative proposals, some of them failed, for the reform of the intelligence services. He made the proposals as head of Parliament’s Defense Commission.