What the newspapers say: December 19, 2007

Newspapers on Wednesday discuss the issues related to a car crash in which Romanian Transports minister Ludovic Orban was involved, as the minister hid the fact that a girl was wounded in the accident. More in the news, 2008 budget law negotiations are heated as governing Liberals fight to get the opposition Social Democrats to support it in the Parliament. As holidays approach, the shopping fever is installled.

Cotidianul lists the lies Transportation Minister Ludovic Orban put forward to journalists in talking about the car accident he was involved in on Sunday.

The newspaper reads that even if Orban denied having wounded someone and the police initial press release confirmed Orban’s statements on Monday and Tuesday, a victim showed up yesterday evening: a girl. However, the girl’s parents do not wish to press charges against the minister.

Journalists talked with the relatives of the girl and they imply that the family has received money compensation for the injury. The paper reads that this is the main reason for which the family refuses to press for charges.

Moreover, Orban claimed that he waited for the police about three hours and, as nobody showed up, he left the scene of the accident and officially reported it only 30 hours after the event.

Gandul focuses on the luxurious conditions the Transportation minister enjoys. The newspaper reads about the three cars that are at his disposal and not only.

As all those benefits come from public money, the newspaper investigates why Orban did not use a driver – since every official car needs one.

Evenimentul Zilei reads about the holes in the new traffic code: if no victims are reported in an accident, the police must be notified within 24 hours since the accident took place. During this time, a drunk driver can manage to escape any punishment.

Orban might lose his political credibility, Romania Libera reads. The paper argues that his lies might have a negative impact upon his career.

Elsewhere in the news, governing Liberals and opposition Social Democrats negotiated the voting of the 2008 annual budget hard yesterday. According to Evenimentul Zilei, negotiations led to a situation where half of the total sum of the budget for regional authorities is going to county halls controlled by the Social Democrats. The Democratic-Liberals say they would boycott the vote on the budget.

More in the news, Gandul reads about the shopping fever which blesses hypermarkets all over again this year. The chaos in Bucharest traffic is also felt hard in the hypermarkets as people hurry to assure they have all they need for the holidays.