Romanian President Traian Basescu was sworn in for his second term on Monday afternoon, during a special plenum of the two chambers of the parliament.
Romania needs to transform and it needs to modernize, with the politicians' role being to
maintain an accelerated pace in undergoing such transformations and also to get sure they are
just, said the president in a speech before Parliament, after taking oath for a new tenure.
Basescu underlined he assumed the project of modernizing Romania as the top priority of his second term in office as president.
He made an appeal to the political class inviting it to participate in this common effort to
continue with the country's modernization.
"I believe that the time for coalitions 'against' has passed," the head of state said, stressing that "Now is time for coalitions 'for', so that we may be able to built a better future for the Romanians."
Basescu also said that the excessive influence of financial interest groups over politicians and state institutions is a threat to democracy and the rule of law and that he will oppose any attempt to turn Romania into an oligarchy.
Basescu was officially confirmed on Dec. 16 by the Constitutional Court for the position of head of state for the second five-year mandate. He defeated his Social Democrat opponent Mircea Geoana with 50.33 percent of the vote in the run-off on Dec. 6.