PYGMALION: A DISCUSSION WITH NEW GENERATION PARTY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BUCHAREST 000254

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EUR/NCE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/03/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR RO
SUBJECT: PYGMALION: A DISCUSSION WITH NEW GENERATION PARTY
SENIOR ADVISOR DAN PAVEL

Classified By: Polcouns Theodore Tanoue for 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Summary: A former U.S.-based Romanian academic now
serving as senior advisor to property and sports magnate Gigi
Becali confirmed that Bacali's New Generation party had
benefited greatly from voter disgust with internecine strife
in the ruling coalition and other political turmoil. The PNG
was attracting supporters both from the PSD and the rival
far-right PRM. He was eager to disavow Becali's ties to
right-extremist groups in Romania, but acknowledged that
Becali's contribution to drafting the party manifesto was his
insistence on language stressing the party's nationalist
agenda, in a bid to appeal to PRM supporters. He said that
the PNG's objectives included a "Europe of Nations" and a
pro-U.S., pro-Israel foreign policy. Our interlocutor also
asserted a "complementarity" between the PNG and Basescu's
PD, and confirmed that Becali's ambitions included becoming
Prime Minister. End Summary.


2. (C) Polcouns met informally 3/2 with Dan Pavel, senior
advisor to New Generation Party (PNG) President (and Steaua
Romania football magnate) Gigi Becali. Pavel is a former
academic with strong U.S. ties, including stints as professor
at the University of Maryland and Director of the Princeton
University Project on Ethnic Relations. He was eager to
dispel Becali's reputation as a right-extremist buffoon. He
acknowledged that Becali had "briefly" flirted with the
extremist right after the 2004 election, when the New
Generation Party (PNG) failed to make the 5 percent threshold
for parliamentary representation. Becali had tried to merge
the PNG with the New Right movement (Noua Dreapta) in order
to revitalize the party. Pavel claimed that he had parted
ways with Becali at that time, warning Becali against
associating with the extreme right. He said that a few
months later, Becali had begged Pavel to return as political
advisor, admitting that "you were right, these guys are
crazy..." Pavel also confirmed press reports that Becali's
parents (and other minority Aromanian relatives) were active
in the prewar Iron Guard and Legion of St. Michael movements,
but explained that Becali's position on the prewar
nationalist movements is that this is a part of Romania's
past, not the future.


3. (C) Pavel said that the PNG had benefited from voter
disgust with internecine battles within the ruling coalition
and from PSD moves to suspend President Basescu. Pavel said
that the PNG's growth came at the expense of the PSD and
Vadim Tudor's PRM, as well as from undecided voters. He said
that the cerebral Mircea Geoana's accession to the PSD helm
had accelerated rural voters' disenchantment with the PSD, as
evidenced by the huge crowds attending recent Becali visits
to the countryside, attesting to his star appeal outside the
cities. (Note: PSD contacts have confirmed that they are
losing votes to the PNG). He added that Becali's private
disaster relief efforts--including rebuilding over 200 houses
damaged during floods last spring--had added to his appeal
among rural voters. Becali recognized that his personal
appeal was not enough, and the PNG was creating a grassroots
political organization nationwide, enlisting over 1000 local
mayors and county councilors and a cadre of local
businessmen.


4. (C) Asked if Becali was tailoring his message to draw
supporters from Vadim Tudor's PRM, Pavel said that the only
part of Becali's message that was geared towards PRM
supporters was the emphasis on nationalism. Pavel confided
that Becali had given him free rein in writing the PNG party
doctrine, but the only part where Becali had personally
participated in the drafting was the language stressing the
PNG's nationalist orientation. Becali's intent, said Pavel,
was to reclaim the "nationalist" label from the hands of
"extremists" and to underscore that "one shouldn't be
ashamed" to be a nationalist. Pavel said that the PNG's
objective was the creation of a "Europe of Nations," plus a
pro-U.S., pro-Israel foreign policy. Pavel said that Becali
supported President Basescu against PSD calls for his removal
for alleged constitutional improprieties, but at the same
time opposed Basescu's proposal for electoral reform
including a uninominal vote.


5. (C) Pavel confirmed that the PNG would run in the
upcoming European Parliamentary elections under the same
overall banner--the European Popular Party--as Basescu's
Democratic Party (PD) and the breakaway Liberal Democrats
(PLD). He insisted that the PNG was not allied with the PD
or with other parties, and that he considered them to be
"adversaries, not allies". However, Pavel later remarked
that the PNG considered the PD to be part of the "same
political family" suggesting that there was considerable
personal "sympathy" between Becali and Basescu. Finally,

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Pavel cited the "complementarity" between the two parties:
the PNG's base was largely rural, while the PD's support came
from urban districts.


6. (C) Pavel volunteered that Becali's ambition was to
ultimately become the President or--more likely--Prime
Minister. Asked whether the Romanian political stage was
large enough to simultaneously accommodate two huge
personalities like Basescu and Becali, Pavel responded that
Becali was more a "consensualist" than the "lone wolf"
politician typified by Basescu. This was exemplified by
Becali's success as a businessman and sports team owner.
Becali had succeeded in submerging the rivalries between the
Steaua, Dynamo, and Rapid football team owners--three very
strong egos--to create a common front in negotiating
broadcasting licenses and other contracts. The difference
between a businessman and a sea captain (note: a reference to
Basescu) is that the former knows that current competitors
might become future partners, concluded Pavel.


7. (C) Pavel insisted that despite a reputation for being
an "unlettered primitive", Becali was too easily
underestimated by political rivals and the public. Pavel
said Becali was a quick study and a superb businessman, as
evidenced by his ability to quickly grasp the complexities of
a two- or three-hundred page business contract. Finally,
Pavel also recounted a recent audience that Becali had with
former Italian Prime Minister (and fellow businessman and
football team owner) Silvio Berlusconi. After the meeting,
Berlusconi reportedly pledged his help to the PNG in the
upcoming European Parliament race, allegedly remarking, "You
remind me of myself as a young man."


8. (C) Comment: Both Becali and his PNG party have continued
their recent meteoric rise in the polls. A recent IMAS
survey, for example, shows that Becali is now the second most
popular politician in Romania (with a 40 percent approval
rating, second only to President Basescu at 51 percent).
Similiarly, the PNG at 16 percent is now within a couple of
percentage points in outpacing the PSD as the second most
popular political party in Romania. This is remarkable given
that the PNG generally scored in the 2-3 percent range in
late 2005, and in the 7-8 percent range in polls conducted in
summer 2006.


9. (C) Clearly, Gigi Becali has benefited by distancing
himself from the political fray and by his recent attempts to
move to the high road. Neverthess, Becali's more bizarre
unscripted moments (including displays of his mastery of
ethnic slurs and homophobic comments, his obscene run-ins
with the press, and a recent televised episode showing him
taking a crowbar to his $500K Mercedes Maybach after a road
mishap) underscore that Pavel will have his work cut out for
him. However, he will be well recompensed for his efforts,
as the local press has reported that his salary package for
serving as Becali's tutor, handler, and political "architect"
is in the USD 300,000 range. High, perhaps, by Romanian
standards, but worth every cent. End Comment.
TAPLIN