After 5 and a half
\nyears as leader of the biggest party in Romania, Victor Ponta has decided to
\nstep down and take no position within the Social Democratic Party until, as he
\nsays in a Facebook message posted on Sunday,
\nhe proves his innocence in the case in which the National Anticorruption
\nDirectorate has accused him of corruption. Currently the prime minister is
\nbeing prosecuted for forgery, tax evasion and money laundering, which he
\nallegedly committed while a lawyer. The case also involves his party colleague,
\nSenator Dan Sova. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In the same Facebook message, Ponta says that other members
\nof the ruling Social Democratic Party too have temporarily given up their
\npolitical positions within the party until they have clarified their legal
\nsituation, and he cannot ask the others to make such a sacrifice, without
\nmaking it himself. This is his first step backwards following November’s
\npresidential elections, the moment that actually marked the decline of one of
\nthe most prominent young politicians in Romania. The resounding failure in the
\nrace for the office of president of the country, caused by a tactical error,
\nthat of treating voters abroad with contempt, has weakened his position within
\nthe party. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Still, despite the party tradition, which says that if the leader of
\nthe party loses the election, he also loses the position of head of party,
\nVictor Ponta miraculously managed to ease tensions within the Social Democratic
\nParty and stay president. That was an absolute first in Romania, which,
\nunfortunately, was followed by another one, starring the same Victor Ponta. He
\nbecame the first acting head of government to be prosecuted for corruption.
\nRomania’s President Klaus Iohannis and the right-wing opposition called on
\nPonta to resign and thus avoid having Romania suffer from a bad image, the more
\nso as the country was making efforts to convince its western partners that the
\nfight against corruption was not phony. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
However, Ponta refused to do so, and
\nplayed a trick, which weakened even more his political position. On the very
\nsame day when he was supposed to be heard by the anticorruption prosecutors,
\nthe prime minister left to Turkey to have his knee operated on. He has now
\nfinally returned, one month later. In the meantime, the coalition formed around
\nthe Social Democratic Party has suffered one first major blow: the National
\nUnion for the Progress of Romania, member of the coalition, has endorsed Mihai
\nRazvan Ungureanu as head of the Foreign Intelligence Service. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Following the announcement that he
\nsteps down as president of the Social Democratic Party, the Liberal Party has
\nagain called on Ponta to also step down as prime minister. Victor Ponta has
\nunderstood that his remaining president of the Social Democratic Party damages
\nthe image of the party, so, logically, he should also understand that the
\ndamage for the Government and for Romania is even bigger said the liberal
\nco-president Alina Gorghiu. The story, therefore, might have the ending desired
\nby the liberals, even in the short-run. Without him being a leader of the
\nSocial Democratic Party, Victor Ponta risks being affected by major
\nconsequences, both with regard to his authority within the government and also
\nwithin he coalition which seems so far from the initial harmony. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Victor Ponta has decided to step down as leader of the Social Democratic Party.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":110,"featured_media":64717,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[28950,29503,29346,29184],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-64716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-corruption","tag-romanian-government","tag-social-democratic-party","tag-victor-ponta"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n