Comment: The rise and fall of Liviu Dragnea, the most powerful politician sent to jail in Romania

The High Court’s decision to sentence Liviu Dragnea, the leader of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), to three and a half years in jail marks the most spectacular fall in Romanian politics. Dragnea, who is not only the head of the ruling party but also the president of the Chamber of Deputies, the third-highest position in the state’s hierarchy, is the most powerful politician sent to jail in Romania in the last 30 years. He is also the first Romanian politician whose imprisonment was celebrated in the streets.

After almost 28 years meticulously planning his ascension, Dragnea didn’t get to enjoy his hard-earned power and spent the last two years and a half in battles against the local justice system, to keep his freedom, and against president Klaus Iohannis, the opposition, the European Commission and opponents within his own party, to keep his power, becoming the most despised person in Romania. In two days, he lost everything, his power and his freedom. “Mr. Dragnea is history in Romania,” as one of PSD’s vicepresidents rushed to say on Sunday, before the party’s defeat in the elections for the European Parliament was officially announced.