Financiarul

Candidate of the National Liberal Party (PNL) in the presidential elections Crin Antonescu stated on Friday evening, during the final debate with Traian Basescu and Mircea Geoana, that he chose to candidate because “he has to”, but also because he does not wish to vote Geoana to get rid of Basescu.

“I also candidate because I want to be Romania’s president, because I had to. I know it is a risking formula, but this is the truth. This “had to” is not connected to the people behind me, to people pushing me into it, it is not linked to duties to the others I cannot pay otherwise than by becoming president of Romania…

I cannot fail to candidate now because I cannot be put in the situation as in 2000 when I voted Ion Iliescu to get rid of Vadim, or in the situation in 2004, when I voted Basescu to get rid of Nastase and I do not want to vote Geoana now to get rid of Basescu. That’s why I candidate”, said Antonescu. As well, he explained he does not wish to reach a situation when his child, when a grown up, will keep him accountable for the fact that he did not change the Romanian politics, when he could, that he “took the liberty” not to candidate in the presidential elections of Nov. 22.

“I am part of a generation with a lot of questions and a lot of answers, who also suffered the lack of freedom and the lack of truth and the lack of dignity and, last but not least, the lack of prosperity or at least material decency. 20 years have passed since freedom was conquered first in Timisoara (west), then in Bucharest and then in the entire country at the most expensive price, a freedom for which people gave their lives, and children are asking their parents:

“What have you done then? Why some people, who could have had our age now, had to die?” And my generation should answer: “We kept silent. We had to. We couldn’t. We had no other choice”. After 20 years we are asked what have we done in these 20 years, when we could, when we were not constrained and today we are tempted to throw the guilt on the others and say we are disappointed (…)”, PNL candidate to the presidential elections also said.

Crin Antonescu underlined he is not an ambitious man and not “keen” to attain the “peak of his political career at Cotroceni”. “I am a normal man who entered politics and on behalf of all normal people, of all good sense people, I will candidate”, stressed Antonescu.
On the other hand, PNL president said there is the possibility that during the electoral debate on Friday evening “figures and plans” will be discussed, adding that a president should not talk in figures because we have “kilometers on end of motorway on the paper, we have thousands of plans on the paper and people live in reality and not on paper”.