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March 29, 2024
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Justice Politics Romanian News

Romanian Main Opposition Party Investigated by Anti-Corruption Department Just Months Before Elections

There is an information coming from the main Opposition party in Romania, the Social-Democratic Party (PSD), according to which the National Anti-Corruption Directorate (DNA) asked for official documents during an investigation regarding the political financing of mass-media during electoral campaigns.

The period of time targeted mainly covers the presidential elections from last year, but also other periods during which the Social-Democratic Party financed the publication or broadcasting of their messages by mass-media institutions.

In Romania, political parties receive a certain subsidy from the national public budget and they can use it to promote their political platform and their political messages through mass-media. In 2019, PSD received around EUR 1.5 million a month as subsidy, but the sums decreased substantially this year, following the change in regulation.

The investigation is not new. The former treasurer of the PSD was criminally charged with using some of the money to his own benefit, but he was replaced by the party before the presidential campaign from last year. This means that the investigation conducted at the moment targets other persons. There are rumors it could be implicated the former leader of the party, Mrs. Viorica Dancila, for deeds while she was also acting as Romanian PM. She assumed the leadership of the organization after the previous leader of the party was sentenced to jail in June 2018.

One question remains unanswered: why the Anti-corruption Directorate started a new investigation now, just a few months before the local and parliamentary elections? This strategy is not new in Romania, and population witnessed for many times in the past as the anti-corruption structures brought their ‘contribution‘ to the social and political life in Romania by investigating key political figures or political parties in key or decisive moments.

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