Among the 22 changes to the Criminal Code, the MPs have also slipped the decriminalisation of the conflict of interest that could help Victor Ponta, accused by DNA also of conflict of interest. The 22 amendments will be on the agenda of the Legal Committee next week and then will be voted on in plenary session, according to Realitatea TV.
After several MPs have had criminal cases opened against them or have even been convicted for conflict of interest as they hired wives, daughters other relatives to their parliamentary offices, several MPs developed a draft decriminalising the offence.
The initiative was adopted by the Senate without debates. The Legal Committee MPs had the draft on the agenda yesterday, but also on 22 May. Five MPs propose to change the headline of an article by replacing the phrase ‘conflict of interest’ with ‘Using office for favouring another person’.
The draft law changing article 301 and article 308 of Law No. 286/2009 on the Criminal Code was tabled in the Chamber of Deputies on 1 April, after being tacitly adopted by the Senate. The initiators are five deputies and senators: Ciprian Nica and Victor Roman PSD, Marton Arpad-Francisc – UDMR, Ion Marocico – minorities and Aurelian Ionescu – PC-PLR.
President Iohannis said he was watching ‘with attention and concern’ the draft law in Parliament on the intention to modify provisions in the Criminal Code in the matter of the conflict of interest, pointing out that no one may favour members of own family in the exercise of public office. The president warned that, if the Parliament adopted the changes, he would return them to Parliament and notify the Constitutional Court by virtue of his constitutional prerogative.
Approximately 140 MPs are being cheeked by the Prosecutor General Office for possible conflicts of interest, judicial sources say, noting that most cases are about relatives being hired by MPs’ offices and that the subjects were from all political parties in Parliament.
The prosecutors have asked the Parliament to supply documents to be used in the investigation, according to stiripesurse.ro.
The 144 MPs allegedly hired relatives to work at Parliament are facing 5-year imprisonment.
Anticorruption prosecutors open criminal investigation on two MPs
Prosecutors of the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) ordered a criminal investigation against Senator Lucian Iliescu and Deputy Marin Anton, in a corruption case.
A DNA release to Agerpres on Wednesday informs that Iliescu is charged with two counts of continued office abuse, two counts of continued conflict of interests and one count of incitement to the use of influence or authority, to obtain undue benefits for him or for others, in his former capacity of mayor of Giurgiu. Anton allegedly used his influence or authority as head of a party county chapter, to obtain undue benefits for him or for others.
The senator’s son, Adrian Iliescu, manager of several companies, is investigated in the same case for influence buying and for complicity to office abuse and to conflict of interests. The inquiry also includes Marin Pavel, then director of the Public Domain Administration of the Giurgiu Municipality, charged with complicity to office abuse and to con
