ROMANIA-PRIME MINISTER/CORRUPTION Romanian president calls on PM to resign over corruption probe

Record ID: 150212

  • Title: ROMANIA-PRIME MINISTER/CORRUPTION Romanian president calls on PM to resign over corruption probe
  • Date: 5th June 2015
  • Summary: BUCHAREST, ROMANIA (JUNE 5, 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PEOPLE ON THE STREET (SOUNDBITE) (Romanian) BUCHAREST RESIDENT, MONICA, SAYING: "Everybody in this country is subject to the same laws, the law is the same for all. In my opinion, if he [Ponta] is involved, he should be investigated, if he is not, the DNA [anti corruption office] will show it." (SOUNDBITE) (Romanian) B
  • Embargoed: 20th June 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Romania
  • Country: Romania
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAE1A02WKEB3QGZ5UE6E9ZI1KLB
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: EDIT CONTAINS MATERIAL WHICH WAS ORIGINALLY 4:3
    Romania's President Klaus Iohannis called on Prime Minister Victor Ponta to resign on Friday (June 5), saying his position was untenable after anti-corruption prosecutors launched a criminal investigation against Ponta.
    Romanian anti-corruption prosecutors said on Friday they had launched a criminal investigation against Prime Minister Victor Ponta, naming him as a suspect in crimes including forgery, money-laundering, conflict of interest and tax evasion.
    Prosecutors have made a series of high-profile arrests in recent months in what remains one of the poorest and most graft-addled countries in the European Union. The anti-corruption agency is known locally as the DNA.
    A former prosecutor who took office in 2012, Ponta faces a general election late next year and his government is currently pushing a series of disputed tax cuts through parliament. He has survived several scandals but was bruised after a surprise defeat at the presidential election in November.
    The shock announcement of the investigation came shortly before the opposition filed a no-confidence vote against Ponta's left-leaning government. Although having lost allies in the wake of his presidential defeat in November, Ponta still commands an overall majority in parliament.
    The inquiry into Ponta mainly concerns his time as a lawyer and accuses him of colluding with Dan Sova, a former transport minister in Ponta's cabinet who had already previously been under investigation for corruption.
    A separate investigation, announced by the DNA on Friday, targets suspected conflict of interest by Ponta during his time as prime minister.
    Ponta denied wrongdoing and said the accusations brought against him on Friday had previously been put forward by his political enemies.
    "I am a suspect in Mr. (Dan) Sova's 2007-2008 legal activities case. Also, there is a conflict of interest as I proposed Mr. Sova as minister," he told journalists outside the DNA.
    Local media showed Ponta's official car speeding towards the presidential palace after the investigation was announced.
    "In my opinion, this is an impossible situation for Romania, for the prime minister to be suspected in penal cases. On the other hand, the worst possible situation for Romania in this moment is a political crisis. Bearing in mind all these things, I am asking Prime Minister Victor Ponta to resign," Iohannis said in a statement.
    Ponta rejected the president's call for his resignation, made after a criminal investigation was launched against him on Friday, saying only parliament could dismiss him.
    "I respect his public position but I was appointed in the job by Romania's parliament and only parliament can dismiss me," Ponta wrote in a Facebook post after a discussion with President Klaus Iohannis. Iohannis had called on Ponta to resign, saying his position was untenable.
    Ponta's finance minister resigned in March after corruption cases were launched against him, while his father-in-law and other senior lawmakers are also under investigation.
    On the streets of the Romanian capital, passers-by said that they had faith the DNA would get to the bottom on the matter.
    "Everybody in this country is subject to the same laws, the law is the same for all. In my opinion, if he [Ponta] is involved, he should be investigated, if he is not, the DNA [anti corruption office] will show it," Bucharest resident Monica told Reuters.
    "This is how it should be, this is a normal situation. What is (now) happening is as it should be," another local, Dan, added.
    A senior former cabinet minister, Liviu Dragnea, was convicted in May of electoral fraud over a 2012 attempt by Ponta's party to impeach the former president.
    Adrian Nastase, Ponta's mentor and a former prime minister, has served time in prison for corruption.
    Romania's currency, the leu, was down nearly 0.2 percent at 0937 GMT on Friday.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register