Romania's ruling party strongman Liviu Dragnea began a three-and-a-half-year jail sentence on Monday for corruption as his party grappled with a crushing defeat in the European elections.
A court earlier Monday upheld Dragnea's original sentence, a verdict that will almost certainly remove from public life a man who was widely seen as the puppet master behind the Social Democrats (PSD) and the government they lead.
He was convicted last year of using his influence to procure fake public jobs for two women who were actually working for the PSD at the time.
Dragnea, 56, was also a key figure in his party's push for controversial judicial reforms which have led to clashes with Brussels and have overshadowed Romania's first-ever EU presidency.
Despite the PSD's election victory in 2016, Dragnea's deep-seated ambition to become prime minister was thwarted because of a previous suspended jail sentence for electoral fraud.
- 'Difficult moment' -
Still the moustachioed leader wielded considerable influence behind the scenes and toppled two prime ministers in just seven months before nominating Viorica Dancila to the post in January 2018.
Dancila admitted that Monday's verdict against Dragnea was "a difficult moment" for the party.
She said that PSD leaders would meet on Tuesday to decide the timetable for electing Dragnea's successor, with Dancila herself taking over the post in the meantime.
She ruled out resigning after the PSD's disastrous showing in Sunday's European Parliament elections, where it slumped 12 points from its score in 2014 to 25.8 percent.
Centre-right and liberal opponents racked up almost 50 percent of the EU vote between them.
Young people and city-dwellers turned out in force to express their frustration with the government, with turnout nudging 50 percent.
"Never has Romania seen so many big events in such a short time, between the humiliation at the ballot box of the ruling party and the incarceration of the one considered the country's strongman," wrote the Romanian investigative website HotNews.ro.
On the eve of Monday's court appearance, Dragnea was his normal defiant self, alluding to conspiracies against him and "unimaginable pressure" being exerted on judges to find him guilty.
Florentin Negrutiu, editorial writer for the Digi24 site, said of the court verdict: "This is a victory for the judicial system after two-and-a-half years in which Dragnea has tried to employ all means to stop it working."
Over the past three years, Dragnea and the PSD -- the successor party to the communists -- have courted voters in poorer and more rural areas of the country with generous promises.
But analysts say his focus on curtailing the activities of the country's anti-corruption agency has lost the PSD many voters.
His argument was that he wanted to put an end to abuses of power by prosecutors "suffered by millions of Romanians".
Dragnea had begun to mimic attacks on the EU of the kind made by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, accusing Brussels of "interfering" in Romania's affairs and its sovereignty.
A second headache for the PSD is likely to come in the results from a referendum also held on Sunday on the government's controversial judicial reforms.
Turnout for the vote, called by President Klaus Iohannis, was well in excess of the 30 percent threshold needed to make the referendum valid and analysts expect voters to have rejected the PSD's plans as the votes continue to be counted.
Romania, which holds the EU's rotating presidency until July, is deeply split between its left-wing government critical of European governance and the pro-EU Iohannis, who will seek re-election at the end of the year.
The European Commission on Monday called on the government to listen to the "clear message" from voters and ensure "an independent judicial system which offers no impunity for criminals and no tolerance for corruption".
The Commission has warned sanctions may follow if the government does not change course.
Romania’s ruling party strongman Liviu Dragnea began a three-and-a-half-year jail sentence on Monday for corruption as his party grappled with a crushing defeat in the European elections.
A court earlier Monday upheld Dragnea’s original sentence, a verdict that will almost certainly remove from public life a man who was widely seen as the puppet master behind the Social Democrats (PSD) and the government they lead.
He was convicted last year of using his influence to procure fake public jobs for two women who were actually working for the PSD at the time.
Dragnea, 56, was also a key figure in his party’s push for controversial judicial reforms which have led to clashes with Brussels and have overshadowed Romania’s first-ever EU presidency.
Despite the PSD’s election victory in 2016, Dragnea’s deep-seated ambition to become prime minister was thwarted because of a previous suspended jail sentence for electoral fraud.
– ‘Difficult moment’ –
Still the moustachioed leader wielded considerable influence behind the scenes and toppled two prime ministers in just seven months before nominating Viorica Dancila to the post in January 2018.
Dancila admitted that Monday’s verdict against Dragnea was “a difficult moment” for the party.
She said that PSD leaders would meet on Tuesday to decide the timetable for electing Dragnea’s successor, with Dancila herself taking over the post in the meantime.
She ruled out resigning after the PSD’s disastrous showing in Sunday’s European Parliament elections, where it slumped 12 points from its score in 2014 to 25.8 percent.
Centre-right and liberal opponents racked up almost 50 percent of the EU vote between them.
Young people and city-dwellers turned out in force to express their frustration with the government, with turnout nudging 50 percent.
“Never has Romania seen so many big events in such a short time, between the humiliation at the ballot box of the ruling party and the incarceration of the one considered the country’s strongman,” wrote the Romanian investigative website HotNews.ro.
On the eve of Monday’s court appearance, Dragnea was his normal defiant self, alluding to conspiracies against him and “unimaginable pressure” being exerted on judges to find him guilty.
Florentin Negrutiu, editorial writer for the Digi24 site, said of the court verdict: “This is a victory for the judicial system after two-and-a-half years in which Dragnea has tried to employ all means to stop it working.”
Over the past three years, Dragnea and the PSD — the successor party to the communists — have courted voters in poorer and more rural areas of the country with generous promises.
But analysts say his focus on curtailing the activities of the country’s anti-corruption agency has lost the PSD many voters.
His argument was that he wanted to put an end to abuses of power by prosecutors “suffered by millions of Romanians”.
Dragnea had begun to mimic attacks on the EU of the kind made by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, accusing Brussels of “interfering” in Romania’s affairs and its sovereignty.
A second headache for the PSD is likely to come in the results from a referendum also held on Sunday on the government’s controversial judicial reforms.
Turnout for the vote, called by President Klaus Iohannis, was well in excess of the 30 percent threshold needed to make the referendum valid and analysts expect voters to have rejected the PSD’s plans as the votes continue to be counted.
Romania, which holds the EU’s rotating presidency until July, is deeply split between its left-wing government critical of European governance and the pro-EU Iohannis, who will seek re-election at the end of the year.
The European Commission on Monday called on the government to listen to the “clear message” from voters and ensure “an independent judicial system which offers no impunity for criminals and no tolerance for corruption”.
The Commission has warned sanctions may follow if the government does not change course.
