Several PSD members sign initiative to ban convicted people from public office in Romania

The Social Democratic Party (PSD) mayor of Pucioasa, a town in Dambovita county, has signed the petition calling for a national referendum to change Romania’s Constitution and ban convicted people from public office. The “Fara Penali” campaign was initiated by the opposition party Save Romania Union (USR) as an answer to the PSD’s efforts to protect some of its influential members from prosecution in corruption cases. The Pucioasa mayor, Constantin Ana, said he too wants a normal and united country and that the fact he signed this petition didn’t make him less of a PSD member. A vice president of PSD’s Dambovita organization, Fanut Costea, also said he signed the initiative at the request of a USR member, considering the initiative to be very good, Hotnews.ro reported. When asked if he thought his party leader Liviu Dragnea was also targeted by this initiative, Costea said that Dragnea would probably help the party if he withdrew from public office, due to his final criminal conviction. PSD Dambovita president Adrian Tutuianu criticized his colleagues’ decisions to sign this initiative saying that it causes confusion within the party and among its supporters, which is unacceptable. Civic initiative to ban convicted people from public office gains traction in Romania editor@romania-insider.com