Political paralysis dogs Romania

Romanians are to vote on Saturday (19 May) on whether to turn President Traian Basescu out of office, before his five-year mandate expires in 2009.

The country’s parliament voted last month to suspend the president for allegedly violating the constitution by exceeding his powers. But the president, who is directly elected by the people, can only be sacked by a popular vote.

Basescu, 55, who is both populist and popular, is likely to win the plebiscite and return to power. The political crisis which has paralysed Romania for more than two years is likely to continue at least until parliamentary elections next year.

Basescu, who was the leader of the centre-right Democrat Party, fell out with the Liberal Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu soon after their parties formed a coalition government in December 2004. Last month, Tariceanu kicked out of government the ministers from Basescu’s party and formed a minority government with the support of the opposition Social Democrats. In recent weeks, during the referendum campaign, Basescu, has denounced the "political-financial oligarchy" that he says rules his country.

Those watching in Romania and from European capitals fear that the political crisis will prevent Romania from meeting the commitments that it made on the eve of its accession to the EU on 1 January, in particular to improve the independence of the judiciary and to step up the fight against corruption.

Romania and Bulgaria were only accepted as EU members on condition that they continue reforms and they face sanctions if European Commission reports in June find that they have not met their targets. The Commission is under pressure from member states, including the UK, the Netherlands, Sweden and France, to be tough on Romania and Bulgaria.

Recent developments in Romania have raised concerns in Brussels. Tudor Chiuariu, the new justice minister who replaced the reformer Monica Macovei, last week sacked a leading prosecutor in charge of the fight against corruption. Doru Tulus, who had in recent months launched investigations against dozens of high-profile politicians from all political parties, was told that he must resign because he had not achieved sufficient convictions. The move triggered uproar. Dozens of prosecutors protested. Several prosecutors and senior justice minister officials resigned.

Most of the country’s analysts believe the minister’s move is politically motivated. "Chiuariu resorted to the old practice of changing the prosecutors who bother your political friends," the leading daily newspaper Adevarul commented.

The appointment of Chiuariu was controversial in the first place. Aged 30, he is seen as inexperienced for what is a crucial ministerial post in Romania. Analysts point out that he was chosen because he is loyal to the party and likely to obey political orders.

The justice minister sacked several senior officials from the justice ministry in what the press described as a ‘witch-hunt’ against those who took the fight against corruption too seriously.

The president of the European People’s Party (EPP) Wilfried Martens accused the government of trying to "decapitate the structures fighting against corruption" in Romania. He said the EPP was "very concerned" by the sacking of prosecutor Tulus. Martens warned that the government was "playing with Romania’s EU membership" by breaching principles of the rule of law.

The Party of European Socialists (PES) has also expressed concern at the Romanian justice minister’s moves. Jan Wiersma, a Dutch MEP and a vice-president of the PES group in the European Parliament, said that his action could have negative effects on the fight against corruption and on the reform programme that the Romanian government has to implement. Wiersma said that it was too early to say whether the minister’s decision was "politically motivated" but added that the European Parliament would keep Romania under observation to make sure that reforms continue.

The leader of the Liberal MEPs Graham Watson, a key ally for Tariceanu , defended the justice minister’s decision. "This comes following criticism from Brussels that Romania has not done enough in the fight against corruption," Watson said. He said that it was not a bad thing that a minister brought a new team in with him.

The European Commission declined to comment on individual decisions to appoint or sack officials but said that it was following attentively the situation in Romania. "Romania has committed itself to reforms, it knows what is has to do and the Commission will judge it in a fair but robust way," a spokesman for the Commission said.

But behind the scenes, Commission officials point out that the sacking of a prosecutor who has brought politicians before the court is not a great start for Romania’s EU membership.

Romanians are to vote on Saturday (19 May) on whether to turn President Traian Basescu out of office, before his five-year mandate expires in 2009.