Justice minister Tudorel Toader launches procedure to dismiss the head of the National Anticorruption Directorate Laura Codruta Kovesi.
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.
Useful Links
Copyright © . All rights reserved