Romanian President: Parliament vote to halt prosecution against former minister confirms Ponta Govt. is corrupt

Romanian President Traian Basescu stated on Tuesday (March 11) that the Parliament’s vote to halt prosecution action against former Finance Minister Daniel Chitoiu in fact confirms that the Ponta Government is corrupt. “I found that the Parliamentary majority refused again today to let the judiciary system free, given that the Romanian Parliament is accused in the European Union report which covers acts of corruption in all 28 member states, but in our case they specifically mention the Parliament as an institution that stays in the way of judicial independence,” said Traian Basescu. In his statement, the President added that this “episode also has another connotation, because it was related to an investigation into how an emergency ordinance was issued and manipulated by various politicians, and confirms that the Ponta Government is corrupt”. The President’s statement came after Romania’s Chamber of Deputies rejected on Tuesday (March 11), by secret vote, the request to approve prosecution of former Finance Minister Daniel Chitoiu. A total of 248 deputies voted against the request to start prosecution, while 108 voted in favor. The National Anticorruption Directorate DNA asked the general prosecutor of the High Court of Cassation and Justice to require the Chamber of Deputies approval for the prosecution of Daniel Chitoiu in the “Carpatica” case, for abuse in office and setting up an organized criminal group when he was Minister of Finance. According to DNA’s statement, there were “reasonable indications according to which, in October 2013, Daniel Chitoiu initiated the adoption of an emergency ordinance aimed exclusively to support the criminal group formed to favor the interests of SC Carpatica Asig SA”. The purpose was removing Tudor Daniel George from the Board of Romania’s Financial Supervisory Authority ASF, vice-president of the insurance supervisory sector, and replacing him with a person that would guarantee, in an illegal manner, the protection of SC Carpatica Asig SA interests, according to DNA. Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@ romania-insider.com (photo source: presidency.ro)