Deputy Speaker of Parliament Mihai Popșoi said that together with the appointment of the director of the National Anticorruption Center (NAC), the institution will start to work in the interests of the citizens and will stop to be a cudgel against the political opponents, as it was under the former governments. For its part, the extraparliamentary opposition said the NAC should receive political support from the current government for the reforms that will be launched or this institution will fight only petty corruption, IPN reports.
Yesterday, Parliament confirmed the secretary of state at the Ministry of Justice Iulian Rusu as director of the NAC. Rusu is a jurist by profession. He graduated from the Oxford University and is a master of law. Earlier, he held the post of executive director of the Institute for European Policies and Reforms. The Deputy Speaker said the government needed time to find the suitable person for this job.
“The Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office and NAC will have full capacity to fulfill their duties. We offer them all the freedom. The political class does not become involved in justice. On the contrary, it is interested in having an independent justice system. We are sure that Iulian Rusu will cope with this post and we will soon convince ourselves of this. The Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office and NAC were empowered to fight primarily grand corruption as the fight against corruption among doctors, police officers and teachers is ridiculous in parts,” Mihai Popșoi stated in the talk show “Shadow Cabinet” on JurnalTV channel.
For their part, the acting president of the PDM Monica Babuc and the former leader of the PUN Octavian Țîcu said the government should openly show its support for the new administration of the NAC so that this institution feels confident in the fight against corruption.
“A head, no matter how good he is and even if this graduated from Harvard, should have a team, while the team should be sure of the government’s support. The lack of teams in the PAS government creates the perception of incomplete action. I regret this amendment of the legislation by which the contest was eliminated. I want to tell those from the PAS that when Mariana Durleșteanu was proposed, if the PDM hadn’t done what it did, we wouldn’t have stayed here today probably,” stated Monica Babuc.
“If there is no clear political involvement for the people who work in the system to feel clarity as to the keeping of power by PAS and clear political support for the reforms they need to do , things will not move on as they act depending on the political developments. If there is political support, things will go on. The system in Romania worked like this. The DNA was successful because it had a clear guarantee of the security system. We do not have this security system,” said Octavian Țîcu.
Iulian Rusu was named NAC director by the votes of 57 PAS MPs. He will take over on February 7, 2022.
