Romanian PM to Face Trial
The Romanian Prime Ministers battle with anti-corruption prosecutors, that started early this summer, has seen a new episode.The criminal case against the head of government will go to Court.
Bogdan Matei, 18.09.2015, 14:21
The piece of news that shattered Romania on Thursday was that the Social Democrat Victor Ponta became the first prime minister in post-communist Romania to stand trial while in office. His former law school colleague, business associate and party and government aide, Senator Dan Sova, has also been indicted in the case and will also stand trial. In the corruption case involving some judicial assistance contracts signed by the Turceni and Rovinari power companies, prosecutors with the National Anti-Corruption Directorate announced on June 5 that Ponta was prosecuted for forgery of private documents, accessory to tax evasion and money laundering, which he allegedly committed while he worked as a lawyer.
In turn, Sova is charged as accessory to abuse of power. He reportedly cashed in hundreds of thousands of euros for deals that caused the State to lose more than 16 million euros. The trial will follow its course, and a sentence is expected in mid-2016 at the soonest. Political reactions, on the other hand, have been much quicker. The Liberals in opposition once again urged the PM to step down. Moreover, the co-president of the National Liberal Party, Alina Gorghiu, called on the leaders of the ruling coalition, the interim president of the Social Democratic Party Liviu Dragnea and the chief of the National Union for the Progress of Romania Gabriel Oprea, to state publicly whether they continue to support Victor Ponta as prime minister.
In turn, President Klaus Iohannis once again warned that Romanias image is affected by Pontas legal problems and said the only solution is for him to resign. In an online post, apparently his favorite communication means lately, the Prime Minister described the Turceni case as the obsession of a totally unprofessional prosecutor to assert himself in his career by fabricating and contriving untrue deeds and situations from 10 years ago and said he will not go. A clearly embarrassed Liviu Dragnea, Pontas successor as president of the Social Democratic Party, only announced that a decision might be made in the days to come.
The Social Democrats cannot stay in a government whose leader is not nominated by the Social Democratic Party, Dragnea says, and at the moment there are no guarantees that, once Ponta resigns, President Iohannis will nominate another party member to take his place. The head of the junior partner in the ruling coalition, the National Union for the Progress of Romania, the deputy PM Gabriel Oprea, says he could make a good prime minister, but he reiterated his loyalty for Victor Ponta. The reactions in the Romanian media range from sympathy to sarcasm.
