Chair of the opposition Save Romania Union (USR) Elena Lasconi said on Tuesday that, should things work normally in Romania, the initiation of a criminal prosecution should also require the opinion of a judge.

„I believe that, in a normal Romania, when a prosecutor moves to criminal proceedings, they should also seek the opinion of a judge, and the unanimous decision of the USR National Bureau was that any USR member who is found guilty in a first court decision, not necessarily Clotilde Armand, must resign from all public positions and shall be expelled from the party. I don’t think everything should be left to the prosecutor, until the case comes before the court, where we would want to hear the opinion of a judge. (…) Until there is a first court sentence we assume that the person is innocent,” Lasconi replied during a press conference held at Parliament when asked how the USR slogan „no convicts in public office” applies in the case of still mayor of Bucharest Sector 1 Clotilde Armand who tops the USR electoral list for the Senate.

Referring to the announcement made on Tuesday by the Social Democratic Party (PSD) according to which no corruption defendants will be admitted to the party’s electoral lists, the USR leader opined that „everything happening now does not prove anything else but huge hypocrisy” and is a blatant „lie”.

„We know how many convicts filed along at the PSD and the PNL. They remove them from the lists for the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, and then they appoint them to various agencies or administrative boards, for better money. Absolutely nothing will happen. It’s the same Mary in another hat. (…) Even if they pretend that they will strike off the list the people subject to criminal investigation, they will later find them a cosy place in various administrative boards or in agencies. They will find them even better paid positions. They have been doing this for 35 years now, we have seen who the PSD and PNL are parading with,” said Lasconi.

The PSD National Political Council decided on Tuesday that no one sent to court for acts of corruption, related deeds or incompatibility shall be included on the party’s electoral lists.

AGERPRES