PM Dancila: Government's toppling implies, in fact, prosecutors' appointment as well

Prime Minister Viorica Dancila explained on Wednesday that her statements within the Social Democratic Party (PSD) meeting regarding the fact that the stake of remaining in power is also related to aspects regarding justice, took into account that the "Government's toppling implies, in fact, the prosecutor's appointment as well."

"Everybody interpreted it just as they wanted. I said, I spoke about the Special Section, because, as you know, in the public space, certain statements have emerged or some of them have been related to the Justice Ministry. I told them that we wouldn't make any decision, we wouldn't issue any emergency ordinance in the Justice area either for the dissolution of the Special Section or for any other reason," Dancila stated, when asked about her statements in the PSD meeting following which some of the Superior Council of Magistracy (CSM) members requested for the Constitutional Court of Romania (CCR) to be notified.

"Categorically, the stakes of the governance are related to these things," Dancila responded, when asked whether there are other "stakes" for PSD remaining in power regarding criminal cases and the prosecutors' appointments. "The toppling of the Government implies, in fact, the prosecutors' appointment as well, because ... this is the role," she added.

When asked whether the magistrates are appointed politically, the PM replied: "You know very well, this is you interpretation, I have never said that the magistrates are appointed politically."

"I even underscored the fact that the magistrates shouldn't be appointed politically and, if you recall, I even proposed for the Justice Ministry a person in the judiciary without a political affiliation. I wanted to give a signal that politics doesn't have the right to get involved in the judiciary, but, as you know, Romania's President was the one who rejected this nomination," the PM mentioned.

Seven CSM members requested the Council President to notify the Constitutional Court regarding a possible judicial conflict between Prime Minister Viorica Dancila and the judicial authority, after the recordings from a PSD meeting surfaced the public space, in which the PM stated, among others, that the stake of PSD remaining in power is "not necessarily the Prime Minister office. The stakes are higher. The stakes are related to cases, to the Special Section, to the prosecutors' appointment. I hope that you don't want to go back ... and many [people] in the hall know what I referred to."