Reactions to proposal to sack anticorruption chief
Justice minister Tudorel Toader launches procedure to dismiss the head of the National Anticorruption Directorate Laura Codruta Kovesi.
Roxana Vasile, 23.02.2018, 13:12
Delayed for a
long time and therefore much awaited for, the decision of the Romanian justice
minister had a boomerang effect: on Thursday evening, Tudorel Toader announced
the start of a procedure to dismiss the chief prosecutor of the National
Anticorruption Directorate Laura Codruta Kovesi, a position she has occupied
since 2013. Toader says his decision is based on deeds and facts that cannot be
tolerated in a country that respects the rule of law, all of which he made
public in a report.
The justice
minister accuses Kovesi of serious violation of duty, pressuring the government
and other state institutions, delaying resolutions to cases, failure to
investigate prosecutors and a series of public statements. Tudorel Toader:
The National
Anticorruption Directorate does not identify with its chief prosecutor, whose
actions over the last year have demonstrated that she is a threat to the
institution she runs on account of her authoritarianism, discretionary
behaviour, defiance of Parliament and the government’s role and duties and challenging
the rulings of the Constitutional Court and its authority.
Romanian
politicians reacted immediately to this announcement. The Social Democratic
Party, the main force in government, says the request for Kovesi’s dismissal is
justified and well-grounded. The Social Democrat senator Serban Nicolae says
the report should be a wake-up call because it highlights the state’s
vulnerabilities:
The best thing
would have been for these things not to have existed, neither the serious facts
presented nor the need to ask for her dismissal. Unfortunately, the facts
presented by the justice minister are of a very serious nature and they explain
to some extent the grave dysfunctions identified by the public about the
activity of the National Anticorruption Directorate, the poor credibility of
anticorruption prosecutors and the debatable results obtained, especially
recently.
The National
Liberal Party, the main opposition party, does not share this view. On the
contrary, the Liberals say minister Tudorel Toader acted because of pressure
from criminals. Ionel Danca, the spokesperson of the National Liberal Party:
When the chief
prosecutor of the National Anticorruption Directorate is dismissed following
pressure from persons with criminal cases who are being tried in court, respect
for the law and the fight against corruption become optional in Romania. This
is unacceptable in a European Union state that respects the rule of law.
The small
parliamentary party Save Romania Union calls on president Klaus Iohannis not to
act on the justice minister’s proposal. The president, the only one who can
dismiss Kovesi, has told a press conference that he maintains his position
regarding the activity of the National Anticorruption Directorate. Saying that
the report presented by the justice minister lacks clarity, the president, who
is in fact in conflict with the government, has promised that the report will
be analysed in detail by his experts.
While the
presentation of the report was accompanied by an anti-Kovesi protest, thousands
of people took to the streets later in the evening in a show of support for
Kovesi, whom they see as a symbol of the fight against corruption. Unhappy with
minister Toader’s decision, people say he must resign and explain why: Because
he asked for the dismissal of the most trusted person and for reasons that are
not well-grounded. I want to live in a country where justice is independent,
not under political control.
These
developments have also been covered by the foreign press. The France Presse
news agency notes, for example, that launching the procedure to dismiss Laura
Codruta Kovesi marks the climax of tensions between the leftist political
majority and the judicial power, fuelled by the intention of the Social
Democratic Party to amend the justice laws.
