Romanian newspapers on Wednesday compensate the lack of information on the results of a critical vote within the opposition PSD party with reports on the disaster the floods, snow and rain produced across the country, new revelations of suspicious activities at the Romanian Lottery and debates on fiscal authority moves against top football clubs in Bucharest.
House speaker Adrian Nastase’s fate keeps the top spot in today’s news, however, with most papers focusing on what was seen as his last day in the cradle of the opposition PSD leadership. A day that concluded with a vote of distrust in him by local party leaders late last night.
According to Cotidianul, his removal as executive president of the main opposition party and as House speaker was well prepared in advance by the top PSD figures, Mircea Geoana, Viorel Hrebenciuc and Miron Mitrea.
They compelled the local branches under their direct leadership to ask for Nastase’s resignation from the party, the newspaper writes.
Jurnalul National focuses on the little support Nastase received from PSD deputies and several local branches of the party.
And Evenimentul Zilei notes the warning of another influential party figure, Ioan Rus, who says the PSD needs thorough reform or risks collective suicide, taking into account the extreme fall PSD has recorded in opinion polls lately.
The flood of votes against Nastase last night mirrors the weather conditions across Romania over the last several days. Hydrologists quoted by Cotidianul warn the risk of large scale floods is much more serious than last year, when rising waters wreaked havoc in pretty much the whole country in sping and summer.
Evenimentul Zilei agrees, writing on expectations that the current weather conditions, with floods and storms in many parts of Romania, may last until Easter.
And Romania libera focuses on the visible effects of the recent snowfalls – dozens of blocked roads, households left in the dark, much material damage and lives lost in traffic.
Meanwhile, both Evenimentul Zilei and Cotidianul refresh their reports on another issue of great risk for some representatives of the government – the situation at the Romanian Lottery, whose head Nicolae Cristea, a well-known connection of deputy PM George Copos - was dismissed from office earlier this month.
Cotidianul notes that an USD8 million investment the Lottery made in the Carpathian resort of Poiana Brasov has halved its value as six of the 11 buildings the institution has bought there were "out of order".
And Evenimentul Zilei focuses on the fight for the position left vacant by Cristea: PM Calin Popescu Tariceanu rejected a claim by coalition partner, the Conservative Party that it should nominate a replacement for Cristea. According to Tariceanu, the Lottery should no longer be managed by a person named on political criteria.
Like most newspapers today, Gandul reports the results of an investigation by the top fiscal control body in Romania in the transfer of football player Florin Bratu from Bucharest-based club Rapid to the Turkish team Galatasaray.
"Rapid accountants caught in off-said", the newspaper writes, pointing how the Romanian football team, now in full swing in the UEFA Cup, left a hole of 14 billion Romanian lei in the state budget as unpaid dues in the transfer of Bratu.
