President Nicusor Dan stated on Tuesday that he would not sign a possible request for criminal prosecution of Deputy Prime Minister Oana Gheorghiu.
He described her statement on magistrates' pensions as "unfortunate", but said the reaction was "exaggerated".
"An opinion cannot constitute a criminal act and, when the request for approval of criminal prosecution comes, if it comes, I will not sign it, it is in no way a criminal act," explained the head of state.
According to him, Gheorghiu must remain in office. "Of course, everyone makes mistakes and it's not such a big mistake," he commented.
The Superior Council of Magistracy announced on Monday that it had decided to notify the competent bodies to conduct investigations into the commission of the crime of incitement to violence, hatred or discrimination in connection with the statements of Deputy Prime Minister Oana Gheorghiu about magistrates' pensions.
The CSM issued a press release on Monday claiming that, through his statements, Gheorghiu violated the independence of the judiciary and the status of magistrates in an "irresponsible" and "populist" manner.
Asked on Saturday, in a program on Digi 24, how she would solve the problem of special pensions for magistrates, Oana Gheorghiu replied: "I would send a message to the magistrates - I would tell them that I understand them. It is very difficult to give up something that was given to you. (...) It is very difficult to benefit from it for years, decades, and suddenly be told that you no longer have it. It would be difficult for anyone to do this. But I think this was a kind of Caritas. They were caught in a Caritas that could not last forever and people who are pragmatic and rational should understand this. Romania cannot afford to pay this money anymore, it cannot afford to have special pensioners anymore. We have no way, and if that money has to go to them because "I give sentences, I get them from somewhere, and I can take them from the mouth of a child who goes to bed hungry, from the budget of a hospital that has no medicine."
President Nicusor Dan laid a wreath at the Corneliu Coposu Monument in Bucharest on Tuesday, commemorating the 30th anniversary of the peasant leader's death.
The head of state was accompanied by presidential advisor Ludovic Orban.
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