CORRUPTION is one of the most important issues in Romanian politics. So the centre-left Social Democratic Party (PSD) entered the parliamentary election on December 11th with what, in most countries, would be considered a handicap. Its leader, Liviu Dragnea (pictured), was convicted in 2015 of attempted electoral fraud three years earlier during a referendum to impeach the president at the time. But many see Mr Dragnea’s conviction as politically motivated, and in Romania, where many parties are tainted by corruption, such things are relative.
The PSD placed first in the election by a wide margin, winning 46% of the vote; well ahead of the centre-right National Liberal Party (PNL), which took just 20%. The PSD’s victory has led to worries that Romania’s impressive anti-corruption drive, which has made it a model for the region, may slow down. For the past several years the country’s independent National Anti-corruption Directorate (DNA) has been prosecuting more than 1,000 people per year on corruption charges, and convicting the vast majority. Mr Dragnea is not the only PSD leader to fall foul of the DNA: a year ago Victor Ponta, then the...Continue reading
from Europe http://ift.tt/2gAyzcf
via https://ifttt.com/ IFTTT
No comments:
Post a Comment