BUCHAREST : Testing a President
Romania’s ruling party convenes a national convention on Friday that may show whether the embattled leadership is in danger of change through a palace coup.
The National Salvation Front’s support has eroded steadily since President Ion Iliescu and his party won resounding victory in free elections last May. Prime Minister Petre Roman’s program of price increases and rapid reforms have been greeted with economically disastrous strikes and demonstrations aimed at forcing Salvation Front politicians out of power.
One theory is that Roman and his government of young technocrats could pressure Iliescu into resigning, removing the figure on which public discontent has primarily been focused. But the populist president has shown no sign of weakening his grip so far despite the labor unrest that continues to torpedo any chance of repairing Romania’s ravaged economy.
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