For a long time hailed in Brussels
\nand Washington as a success story and an example for other ex-communist states
\nin Eastern Europe, Romania’s fight against corruption has seen some setbacks.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
In a recent example on Tuesday, the
\nSenate rejected with 72 no votes and only 66 yes votes a request by the
\nNational Anticorruption Directorate to allow the arrest and temporary custody
\nof the Social Democrat MP Dan Sova. Paradoxically, in a previous vote in this
\ncase held in March, the majority of senators had approved the Directorate’s
\nrequest. Sova was not arrested at the time because the Senate’s leadership
\ndecided the request should have been approved by the majority of the total
\nnumber of senators. The vote was thus taken again, following a ruling by the
\nConstitutional Court where the case had been referred to by the Liberal
\nopposition. The Liberals say they will again challenge the Senate’s decision,
\nwhile Dan Sova said he wished his case were brought before justice as soon as
\npossible, so that his situation could be resolved. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The public, in the meantime, is
\nincreasingly puzzled. In the last three years, tens of ministers,
\nparliamentarians, county council presidents and big city mayors have been sent
\nbehind bars as part of corruption cases. One such high-profile name is that of
\nthe former Social Democratic prime minister Adrian Nastase and one of the most
\ninfluential figures of the post-communist left, Viorel Hrebenciuc. Compared
\nwith them, Sova is relatively insignificant politically speaking, which is why
\nthe public is surprised by the strong solidarity shown by his colleagues. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The media have been speculating that
\nthe Social Democratic Party is closing ranks around Sova to protect in fact its
\ncurrent leader, prime minister Victor Ponta. A lawyer and former transport
\nminister in the government led by his friend and former university colleague
\nVictor Ponta, Sova is under investigation for complicity to abuse of office.
\nAnticorruption prosecutors say he received hundreds of thousands of euros for
\ninvolvement in the sale of the energy compounds of Turceni and Rovinari, in the
\nsouth-west, in which the state lost over 16 million euros. Some of the money,
\nsay the media, went into the prime minister’s pockets. Ponta says, however,
\nthat the vote on the Sova case has not even been discussed by the party and
\nthat what happens in the Senate has nothing to do with justice, but is part of
\na political battle. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
On behalf of the National Liberal
\nParty in opposition, its first deputy president, Catalin Predoiu, has described
\nthe Senate’s vote as a national disgrace, an act of defiance against the
\nRomanian people and as being part of the dictatorship of lawlessness.
\nHowever, his accusations would probably be more convincing if the Senate hadn’t
\nalso rejected earlier this year a request for the arrest of his own colleague
\nand former Liberal economy minister Varujan Vosganian, who was accused of
\ncorruption. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\nVisibly irritated by
\nthe recent events, president Klaus Iohannis has explicitly accused Parliament
\nof continuing to obstruct justice. When the rule of law is at stake, it is
\nbecoming more and more difficult to work with this Parliament and this
\nmajority, said the president.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A new political and judicial scandal has made headlines in Romania, casting doubt on the rule of law in this country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":105,"featured_media":64172,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[33199,116464],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-64171","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-anticorruption","tag-romania-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n