Radu Paraschivescu, hung up on what Valeriu Iftime said on the GSP “2 to 1” podcast: “A story”
Article by Alexandru Barbu – Published Tuesday, February 17, 2026, 4:34 p.m. / Updated Tuesday, February 17, 2026, 4:36 p.m.
The writer Radu Paraschivescu wanted to react on his Facebook account, after Valeriu Iftime declared on the GSP podcast “2 to 1” that he was a party member before the Revolution in order to enter college.
A graduate of the Faculty of Philology in Bucharest, Paraschivescu is the same age as Iftime, 65 years old, and states that “no one forced me to join the PCR”.
Radu Paraschivescu contradicts Valeriu Iftime: “We should remember the exact things”
“Mr. Valeriu Iftime, the patron of the FC Botoşani club, declares in the podcast “2 to 1” of GSP that he was forced to join the Romanian Communist Party so that he could “study at the university”. That's how it was in Iasi, I have no way of knowing. However, I know that I am exactly Valeriu Iftime's age and that no one, at the Faculty of Philology in Bucharest, forced me to enroll in PCR.
It's true, most of the colleagues were party members and had taken the decision “just in case”, not because it had anything to do with communism. I was among the three graduates from 1984 who did not want to enroll and who suffered nothing because of it. Not during the student years, not at the distribution, not after that.
Precisely because “you have no way of knowing”, said Mr. Iftime, it would be appropriate to remember things exactly, in order not to leave an incorrect image to those who want to know what it was like back then. I have many unpleasant memories from that period, but the story about the mandatory entry into the party in order to study at the university is just that: a story”, is Paraschivescu's comment.
Valeriu Iftime, on the GSP podcast “2 la 1”: “Who says, at my age, that he went to college and didn't want to be a party member…”
The financier of FC Botoșani is, from 2024, the president of the Botoșani County Council, as well as the president of PNL Botoșani. During the time of Nicolae Ceaușescu, the businessman claims that he had to join the Romanian Communist Party in order to study at the university.
The boss from FC Botoșani states, at the same time, that he particularly hates the PCR values.
“I studied very well at school. I was the best UTC-ist, the best communist, the best businessman, the best…
They made me a party member in my first year of college, when it was very difficult to get into college. I needed a good average, a good background, and it was a sensational joy for me to be there, next to my teachers. We had some teachers who electrified me only when I approached them. Because at the party meetings we were next to each other.
But it was a boring party, you can't tell what it was! We all hate the Communist Party!
But to sit next to my teacher, I'm a fool, to listen to one of his … they made all kinds of jokes about the party. There was one barker there, the boss, but the others in the room…
I was a party member for 3 years. Who says, at my age, that he went to college and didn't want to be a party member… I think he's one of me. It was possible, but no one would take you. Sir, it was kind of standard. At the age of 20, I thought that Coposu would ever come, that Rațiu would come to make a revolution?!”, declares Iftime.
Iftime studied at the Faculty of Electronics from Iasi.
FULL VIDEO | GSP podcast “2 to 1” with Valeriu Iftime:
