What follows is my translation of some articles about the candidacy of one Ms.
. Ms. Roberts is an American citizen of Romanian origin who just officially announced her candidacy for President (of Romania).
For all you American election junkies, Romania follows the more common "short season" of Presidential elections, meaning that the campaign lasts less than a year.
If you only care about American politics then this isn't the Diary for you.
Lia Roberts - Candidate for President
Romanian-American presents an alternative to the regular class of politicians with their roots in corruption during the last 14 years. She promises that she will be independent from all political parties. Ms. Roberts has accepted some [organized] political support to help get the [required] 300,000 signatures [to have her name on the ballot].
Lia Roberts, the head of the Republican Party in the state of Nevada as well as being an honorary [Romanian] consular officer in Las Vegas, has officially announced her candidacy for the President of Romania. The announcement was made yesterday during a press conference in the ArCuB Room in Bucharest [the capitol of Romania], organized by the newspaper ZIUA [the source of this article]. "A new era has begun today because we have arrived at a watershed moment. From this day forward, corruption will have no place in this country" promised Lia Roberts in launching her political campaign. She also announced that she was encouraged to run for the highest office in the land by many Romanian supporters as well as foreign investors. The fight against corruption will be the principal plank of her platform.
The new competitor to Stolojan [came in 3rd last election], Vadim [came in 2nd in last election] and probably Nastase [currently the PM] has stated that she wants to remain independent. Lia Roberts stated that she has never been a member of a Romanian political party, was never a member of the PCR [Romanian Communist Party] and never collaborated with the Securitate [secret police]. Lia Roberts' speech was often interrupted with loud applause from the dozens of supports present at the event. Visible in attendance, surrounded by journalists, were the representatives of the political parties, come to spy on the first public event of the new candidate for President. Paul Pacuraru (PNL party), Mircea Chelaru (PUNR party), Bogdan Pascu (PUR party) were among those present. The event began and ended with a singing of the national anthem.
A New Choice
The announcement of her candidacy for President clearly detailed what it would mean to politicians and politics in Romania: "In 2004, this leap year, you can make a new choice. You can choose the politicians you know so well, the ones who have been spinning in the same circles for the last 14 years. If you want more of this kind of politics you can vote for them. Or, if you want a change, this year you can make a new choice. I am hereby declaring my candidacy for President of Romania," said Roberts, who added that her only political party allegiance was to the "people of Romania".
Lia Roberts declared that she would be an independent candidate although she will be accepting support from everyone who offers it. She has many NGO's and individuals who have expressed the desire to offer support. Roberts mentioned that the first offer of help, collecting the 300,000 signatures necessary to appear on the ballot, came from the PUR [political party]. "I am grateful for all the help and support I can get. So long as our vision and direction are compatible, all support is welcomed" added the new candidate. The Humanists [PUR party] later stated that their official support of Ms. Roberts' candidacy was predicated upon the approval at the PUR Party meeting at the end of February.
A Radical Turning Point
Lia Roberts stated that her decision to run for President signifies a welcome change for Romania, a "radical turning point" in which corruption will not be tolerated. "The country must head in the right direction, it has many things to address. Certain things must stop and corruption is first. Corruption is what feeds all the rest of the problems. It is a shame that corruption in this country stains all the good things it has to offer" said Lia Roberts. She pointed to the fact that if she were to to win the election, new investors would be attracted to Romania. "A lot of new contracts will come here when NATO begins constructing [military] bases. There will be a lot of companies who will want to bid on those projects, not just a single company like the Bechtel case. The profits from these contracts, for the most part, will stay in Romania," said Lia Roberts. She added that she has recently had many meetings with potential investors who were favorable to her candidacy and eager to invest in Romania. "I want to bring about a change in the way we look at things, to show that Romania is not a backwards country," added the candidate. Concerning the contract signed by Bechtel to build a highway system in Romania, Lia Roberts admitted that it was a crooked business deal and was not done according to the rules.
Meeting with Bush
Responding to a question, Lia Roberts offered details about her connections with certain people. She admitted that she met with the American President, George Bush, two weeks ago although she did not reveal what they discussed. She summarized their meeting by saying that he supports democracy throughout the world, including in Romania. Referring to her relationship with Virgil Magureanu, Lia Roberts said that she met him for the first time last November when she was discussing her potential candidacy. "Mr. Magureanu and I have no other type of relationship. I met him at the same event where I also met a lot of other people", Lia Roberts explained. She denied that Magureanu's son had been seen at her home.
Halt of Child Trafficking
"I have never lobbied on behalf of anyone. I am interceding in Romania with the intent of improving this country," said Roberts. She added that her sentiments about Ion Iliescu [the current President] were similar to what any citizen would feel about the President. Concerning the problems of adoptions, Lia Roberts wondered whether Romanian children needed to be uprooted [adopted by non-Romanians] when three thousand Romanian families were waiting to adopt a child. "In the past, these children were being sold and this must never happen again," she stressed.
The Politican Parties Are Founded on Quicksand
According to a CURS opinion poll, Lia Roberts would get 10% of the vote next January. These polling figures were released by an expert in political campaigns, Dick Morris, who was also present at [Ms. Roberts] press conference yesterday.
After analyzing the results of that poll and weighing her chances of being elected, Lia Roberts decided to announce her candidacy. Yesterday she outlined where the necessary "breakaway" votes to win would come from: "You can vote for those other [political] parties. They are all ineffectual, they are all founded on quicksand. Do you understand that they are a quagmire? My name is Lia Roberts but what we are doing here is called a change. If you want something different, vote for change, not for Lia Roberts. We need something better. I don't want to win by getting your vote. I want you to vote for me so that you will be the winner. May the Lord bless us!" she also said, urging the people present in the room to spread her message.
Victor Gaefan, the head of Lia Roberts election campaign, listed many telephone numbers, email addresses and websites where people could contact her. The campaign to collect the necessary signatures began immediately after the press conference with Mr. Gaetan collecting names as people exited the room.
The telephone numbers and email address are in the original article but the website doesn't seem to be working yet.
Virgil Magureanu btw is the former head of the Securitate or Romanian Secret Police.
Anyway that's it for now. Just thought I'd post it in case anyone was interested.