Romanian President Invites Political Parties To Talks On Integrity Agency Situation

Basescu will hold talks with representatives of parliamentary parties, national minorities and independent lawmakers.

Talks will set off at 5 p.m. with opposition Liberal Party, Social Democratic Party and Conservative Party and will continue, starting 6 p.m., with the country’s ruling Democratic Liberal Party, the Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania, the parliamentary group of national minorities and the parliamentary groups of independent lawmakers.

Social democrats have already announced they will attend talks.

Romania’s integrity agency, a EU-required institution, has been stripped of its main attributions in screening public officials wealth and interest statements, following a Constitutional Court ruling last week. The Court, which motivated its decision said the agency mistakes investigative for judicial powers, its publication of public officials’ wealth statements breaches the right to privacy and the agency’s role, as regulated by law, doesn’t apply the presumption of innocence and forces the people investigated to bring in evidence proving their innocence.

Basescu said last week in Brussels at a press conference that the Government will issue an emergency decree allowing the country’s integrity agency to operate again, as soon as it takes note of the motivation of the Constitution Court ruling that stripped the anticorruption body of its main role.

However, the Constitutional Court has recently said the Government cannot pass an emergency decree to keep the agency running ans stressed the Executive may, however, initiate a draft law, but it is the Parliament’s prerogative to fix the law regulating the agency’s activity.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said last week in Brussels at the same press conference that he is concerned about the Constitutional Court ruling regarding the activity of Romania’s integrity agency, arguing the anticorruption body needs a solid legal framework to ensure full independence and the ability to carry out investigations.