Traian Băsescu, former president of Romania, was not only distinguished by his blunt style and his involvement in the internal life of the PDL, but also by promoting some women who had a political career, but gradually entered a cone of shadow and sometimes even in prison.
Udrea is one of the people frequently associated with the former president PHOTO Inquam Photos/Mediafax
In his two mandates as president of Romania, Traian Băsescu not only worked with veterans of the PDL (PD) and PNL, but also supported several women, propelled into key positions with great power in the state.
One of the first people supported and with whom he collaborated for a long time was Anca Boagiu. After several years of working with Traian Băsescu at the Ministry of Transport, he being the head and her being a technocrat, in June 2000 she took his place at the helm of the institution, after Băsescu became mayor. After PNL-PDL came to power, Boagiu will be Minister of European Integration (2005-2007), then of Transport (2010 – February 2012). Then, Boagiu began to enter a shadow cone, being only a deputy and until 2016 head of PNL Sector 2. Currently, after passing through several boards of directors (Guarantee Fund, TAROM, etc.) .), Boagiu was hired by the Government of the Republic of Moldova as a consultant for EU accession.
Supported, then sentenced to prison
Elena Udrea is one of the people frequently associated with Traian Băsescu. Having become famous as the head of the Presidential Chancellery, in 2005, Udrea was first Minister of Tourism (2008-2009), then became Minister of Regional Development and Tourism (December 2009 – February 2012), one of the most important institutions, being the one that decided the allocation of money in the territory. With the end of Băsescu's mandates, Udrea also began to fall into irrelevance, being defeated in the internal race of the PDL by Vasile Blaga, in 2013, when he wanted the leadership of the party, then leaving for the PMP, the party from which he ran for the presidency in 2014 But the political sunset was doubled by numerous criminal cases. He is currently serving a 6-year prison sentence for corruption offences.
Monica Iacob Ridzi was deputy for Hunedoara from 2004 to 2012, on the PD/PDL line, but with political support and Minister of Youth at only 31 years old. It lasted only half a year, being involved in a corruption scandal. Moreover, at the beginning of 2015, she was definitively sentenced to five years in prison, for abuse of office and acts of corruption.
Sulfina Barbu is another name promoted during the Băsescu era, who was Minister of the Environment and Water Management between 2004-2007. In 2008, she also obtained a deputy's mandate, but then, in 2012, she missed entering the Parliament. Also, between September 2011 and February 2012, he was Minister of Labour. In 2017, Sulfina Barbu received a new mandate as a member of the CNSAS College (with a salary similar to that of the Secretary of State), and in 2023 she was appointed for another 6 years.
The first woman to head the Chamber
Coming from the PD, Roberta Anastase (and now a senator) became the president of the Chamber of Deputies in 2008. Roberta Anastase was the head of this forum until July 2012, when, following the PSD offensive on the institutions in the Parliament and against the president, the position was taken over by Valeriu Zgonea. Anastase has remained in the Parliament until now, but only holds the position of president of PNL Ploiești, not being a representative leader of the liberals.
EBA and the European Parliament
Traian Băsescu's mistress also had connections with politics. After resigning from PDL in March 2009, Elena Băsescu, also known as EBA (acronym on electoral materials), ran as an independent. Helped by the party that also gave Băsescu president, the head of state's daughter won a five-year mandate in the European Parliament. After the Brussels experience, the EBA gradually withdrew from politics. The last interaction with politics was in 2020, when he ran for Constanța, on the PMP list, for the Chamber of Deputies, but his party did not pass the threshold.
Public positions, through political support
And Alina Bica, former head of DIICOT between May 15, 2013 and November 2014, is considered one of the people who had support from the top of the state, that is, from Traian Băsescu. Between January 2009 and May 2012, Bica was secretary of state at the Ministry of Justice. In 2019, Bica was definitively sentenced to four years in prison, for favoring businessman Ovidiu Tender. Bica fled to Italy, so he did not serve a single day of prison in Romania for the sentence he received.
And the current communication director of PUSL, the formation controlled by Dan Voiculescu, was part of Băsescu's “amazons” guard. He supported Lavinia Şandru, as the former president admitted, to be the first on the list for Parliament in Mureș county. Then, after, together with Cozmin Gușă, she attempted a coup in the party against the old leaders, she was removed from the party in 2005. Moreover, Băsescu also sent Lavinia Șandru to the “political belt”, the expression remains famous. Then, Şandru went through formations such as the National Initiative Party or the National Union for the Progress of Romania.
