June 6, 2015
A roundup of news from Romania
România Internațional, 06.06.2015, 12:00
The Romanian President Klaus Iohannis announced he would discuss the political situation created by the corruption charges brought against the Social Democratic PM Victor Ponta during Monday’s consultations with the parliamentary parties. The president said he expected the PM to resign as he had previously requested, in order to avoid a prolonged political crisis and marring the country’s image. However the PM Victor Ponta rejected, on Friday, the idea of resignation saying that it is up to Parliament to dismiss him. On Monday the Legal Committee of the Chamber of Deputies will announce the timetable for the analysis of the anti-corruption prosecutors’ request for the start of legal proceedings against the PM for conflict of interests when he held the position of PM. For the other crimes the PM is supposed to have committed when he was a lawyer the National Anti-Corruption Directorate’s prosecutors did not need the approval of Parliament and announced they already started his prosecution. Prosecutors have charged the PM Victor Ponta with forgery in documents under private signature, accessory to tax evasion and money laundering. The crimes are related to the case of the Social Democratic senator Dan Sova, a former transport minister in Ponta’s cabinet, who is accused of corruption in the case of the Rovinari and Turceni energy companies. From these two companies Dan Sova’s private legal practice allegedly obtained undue benefits of about 750 thousand euros between 2007- 2008. Part of this money allegedly reached the then lawyer Victor Ponta who also in 2007 concluded a cooperation agreement with Dan Sova’s practice.
The start of legal proceedings against the Romanian PM and the president’s request for his resignation have caused reactions on the Romanian political scene. The Social Democratic Party considers its leader heads a legitimate government and that there is no legal and constitutional reason to account for his resignation from the PM position. In exchange the opposition has called on Victor Ponta to resign. In another development, prior to the start of legal proceedings against the PM, the National Liberal Party, the main opposition party, filed a censure motion against the government, accusing it of abuse of power as it prevented the Romanians in the country and aboard to exercise their constitutional right to vote. The document mentions that Victor Ponta wanted to become president by the deliberate sabotaging of the Romanian citizens’ in the Diaspora and he is now refusing to hold partial local and parliamentary elections meant to fill in the vacancies in the legislative and the local administrations.
The Romanian actor Marin Moraru and the German star Nastassja Kinski are today’s special guests in the last day of the Transylvania International Film Festival, in short TIFF, hosted by the city of Cluj Napoca. Nastassja Kinski will receive the Special Award for her contribution to world cinematography while Marin Moraru will receive the TIFF 2015 Excellence Award. For 10 days more than 220 productions from 60 countries have been screened at the festival, which has been attended by 850 guests from Romania and aboard.
Romania’s women’s handball team is meeting Saturday Serbia’s team, which is world vice-champion, in an away match in Kraljevo,. The match counts for qualification to the World Handball Championships to be held in Denmark in December. The return match will take place in one week’s time, in Cluj-Napoca (north west). In the Euro 2014 Romania was ranked 9th while Serbia did not manage to pass the first group stage, ending the competition on the last but one place. The Romanian handball team is the only team that has never missed a World Championship.
