What the newspapers say: July 2, 2008

The director of Romanian state news agency Rompres is accused of censorship, one newspaper reads on Wednesday. Elsewhere in the news, banks are deceiving their clients, a Consumer Protection control concluded. In the political camp, Social Democrats are on the verge of separation from some of the most influential people within the party.

Cotidianul reads about a scandal which broke within the national press agency Rompres. In May, the internal news director, Robert Mihaileanu was suspended for two months and now, the former employee sues general director Ion Rosca accusing him of censorship.

According to Mihaileanu, during the campaign for local elections in June the Rompres management decided to suppress a piece of news about Oprescu, the independent candidate for Bucharest mayor seat. Moreover, Mihaileanu declared that the management refused to send editors at Oprescu’s events while focusing on other candidates.

Mihaileanu apparently, is not the only one to accuse the Rompres management of censorship. An anonymous employee at Rompres confirms Mihaileanu’s story and adds even more.

Rompres General Director Ion Rosca declared that Mihaileanu perceives things quite differently due to the fact he was suspended. Moreover, he added that there are plenty of news with Oprescu during the June local elections.

Rosca declared that the incidents about Oprescu were real indeed but they were determined by the context and the editorial politics of the institution.

Elsewhere in the news, a Consumers Protection control of Romania’s top 20 banks reveals that banks are deceiving their clients, Gandul informs. 14 banks were sanctioned because they did not respect the consumers’ rights.

The „murder weapon” is generally the variable interest rate, National Authority for Consumer Protection president Dan Vlaicu declared. The institution is currently setting up a draft law which rules, among others that banks should have fixed taxes, transparent ways of interest rate calculation and the possibility that clients can study the contract for 10 days before signing it.

Vlaicu declared that the project will be initiated by the end of summer. He added that the Romanian legislation needed improvement in order to better regulate the banking system.

Last but not least, on the political side, Social Democrats are on the verge of splitting, Evenimentul Zilei reads. One influential group within the party, the Cluj Group, heated up attacks against PSD leaders.

On his blog, Cluj branch leader Vasile Dancu accused the Social Democratic leadership of having no direction or real strategy whatsoever. Dancu criticized current or former PSD leaders in extenso. Thus, journalists argue that Dancu and his close colleagues might be eliminated from the party.