Senate's Popescu-Tariceanu: President Iohannis must proceed to revoking DNA head from office

Considering the decision of Romania's Constitutional Court in the case of the National Anti-corruption Directorate (DNA) head Laura Codruta Kovesi, the President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis should proceed to revoking the chief-prosecutor from office, as requested by the Justice Minister, Tudorel Toader, on Wednesday said the Senate's President, Calin Popescu-Tariceanu.

"Today, this is a very important moment for what the strengthening of the republican character of Romania's parliamentary democracy means as far as I am concerned. For a very long time I've heard talks about Romania as a semi-presidential republic, starting from the idea that the president is voted directly. This is not a defining criterion, but it is about the president's attributes. And what is the CCR doing?! It strengthens the power of the Executive, of the Justice minister with regard to the institutional relationship between the Justice Ministry and the Public Prosecution Service. Basically, the CCR emphasises that the Public Prosecution Service is functioning under the Justice minister's authority, as it is written explicitly and unequivocally in the Constitution. The president has but a solemn role to give weight and lawfulness to the appointment decision and implicitly to the revocation decision, in the case of the prosecutors. We are talking about the legislation in force. So, the president cannot have a decisive role neither in the appointment, nor in the revocation...The assessment of the functioning of the Public Prosecution Service and of the prosecutors rests entirely with the Justice minister. I was hoping it would end this way, but I have been eagerly waiting for the opinion of the Constitutional Court and I'm glad it thus clears some of the things which in the past have created confusion and controversy (...) The revocation decision that is made by the Justice minister cannot be in any way contradicted by the President. The President must go on with the revocation request regarding the DNA head," Popescu-Tariceanu said, at the Senate seat.

He stressed that the CCR decision "is marking yet another important step regarding the return to normalcy."