The Minister of Justice denies that there was a negotiation between the PSD and Nicușor Dan for the heads of the prosecutor's offices. “More transparency could not exist”
The Minister of Justice, Radu Marinescu from the PSD, said on Thursday that the procedure for nominating candidates for the leadership of the big prosecutor's offices “had a special scope” and “was of maximum transparency”, saying that the decision of President Nicușor Dan to approve them “proves that our arguments were correct and were appropriated” by him.
On Wednesday evening, President Nicușor Dan announced that he accepted seven of the eight prosecutors proposed by the Minister of Justice for the leadership of the General Prosecutor's Office, DNA and DIICOT.
Asked Thursday on B1 TV if these appointments were part of a political negotiation, Minister Radu Marinescu “categorically” denied. At the same time, the social democrat contradicted those who accuse a lack of transparency in the procedure.
“For the first time in the recent history of the rule of law in Romania, the procedure had a special scope, it was of maximum transparency. This is because, in addition to the fact that all the interviews were broadcast live, which had a certain consistency, some of them even exceeded two hours, all the considerations for which these proposals were formulated by the commission from the Ministry of Justice were available to the public, they could be known and they also had a significant consistency”, declared Radu Marinescu.
He claims that “more transparency in the conduct of this procedure could not exist, both from a practical point of view and from the point of view of the application of legal norms.”
Radu Marinescu: The president's decision “proves that our arguments were correct”
Minister Radu Marinescu said that the ministry supported the proposals “on the basis of reasons, arguing and asking absolutely all the questions, and doing absolutely all the checks”.
“The fact that seven proposals out of eight were validated by Mr. President proves that our arguments were correct and were appropriated by the most representative public actor and decision-maker in this matter,” he added.
The official also claimed that “the question marks were clarified, through the answers to the interviews, through the elements in the file, through the management projects presented by these candidates”.
The seven appointments made by Nicușor Dan at the proposal of Radu Marinescu
- Cristina Chiriac – Prosecutor General,
- Marius Voineag – deputy prosecutor of the general prosecutor,
- Viorel Cerbu – chief prosecutor of the DNA,
- Marius-Ionel Ştefan – Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the DNA,
- Marinela Mincă – deputy chief prosecutor of the DNA,
- Codrin-Horaţiu Miron – chief prosecutor of DIICOT,
- Alex Florența – deputy chief prosecutor of DIICOT.
