The Romanian president called on Friday, Prime Minister Victor Ponta to resign amid corruption charges including tax evasion and money laundering. Ponta refused saying that only Parliament can remove him.
After meeting with Prime Minister, President Klaus Iohannis said that “it was an impossible situation for Romania that the Prime Minister is accused of criminal acts “and he said the country could fall into a crisis of political corruption if the official does not give up.
Ponta, 42, previously attended the anti-corruption office and then told reporters he was suspected of making false statements, money laundering, conflicts of interest and complicity in tax evasion. Previously there had been identified as suspicious.
In a message on his Facebook page, Ponta promised to battle. “I can not accept that the anti-corruption prosecutor is above the Parliament, the government and citizens of this country! That would mean a dictatorship 25 years after the 1989 revolution and would be a serious mistake for us all!” He wrote.
Ponta, president of the ruling Social Democratic Party, was elected prime minister in April 2012 and two years later ran for president but lost to Iohannis, who headed the Liberal Party.
Ponta’s party has the support of smaller groups to form a small majority in Parliament.
Prosecutors have asked Parliament to prosecute Ponta. The charges relate to his work as a lawyer from 2007 to 2008 when he was also lawmaker from the Social Democratic Party.
The prime minister is suspected of higher profile to be identified as an anti-corruption campaign has intensified in recent months.
In 2014, the anti-corruption bureau said 1,051 sentences, including a former prime minister, seven former ministers, one deputy prime minister, four legislators, a member of Parliament European, 39 mayors, 25 judges and two magnates.
Lawmakers have judicial immunity, but you can remove them by means of a vote. Dan Sova, a close parliamentary Ponta, has won two attempts to lift his immunity.
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