Former Interior Minister Gabriel Oprea, who was the most powerful minister in former Prime Minister Victor Ponta’s cabinet, will leave his party and withdraw from politics after he completes his MP term. He made the announcement on Friday, July 1.

The former minister is under investigation in two criminal cases, in which he is charged with abuse of power.

In March, he stepped down as president of the National Union for Romania’s Progress - UNPR, after the prosecutors started the second investigation against him. He proposed former District 2 mayor Nicolae Ontanu as his successor, but Ontanu was arrested for bribery. In the end, Valeriu Steriu was elected the party’s president.

UNPR was formed in March 2015 by a group of MPs who left the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the National Liberal Party (PNL) to support former President Traian Basescu. The party has lost many members after it got a poor score at the local elections in June this year.

Oprea was indicted by the anti-corruption prosecutors for acquiring an Audi A8 limousine with public money. He is also under investigation for illegally using motorcades in all his trips.

editor@romania-insider.com