Former president Traian Basescu states that if Livia Stanciu and Codruta Kovesi were to be replaced at the helm of the High Court of Justice (ICCJ) and National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) respectively then “tomorrow another Stanciu and another Kovesi will appear, and the judiciary will work the same” since no magistrate will accept giving up the judiciary’s independence.
Traian Basescu stated on Sunday at the regional meeting of the Popular Movement Party (PMP) in Iasi that Romania needs the judiciary just like a man needs air, claiming that the judiciary will work the same even if Livia Stanciu and Codruta Kovesi were to be replaced at the helm of the ICCJ and DNA respectively.
“Now, some have set two targets – Stanciu and Kovesi. No, my dear. You should know that tomorrow another Stanciu and another Kovesi will appear and the judiciary will work the same. The functioning of the prosecutor’s offices and of the High Court is not dependent on a person. The prosecutors’ confidence that they have become politically unassailable has been built in ten years’ time. No magistrate will accept giving up the independence that they have come to conclude it cannot be politically taken away from them again,” Traian Basescu stated, Mediafax informs.
He added that the process of consolidating and modernizing the judiciary should continue even though “there are corrupt prosecutors and judges there too, incompetence and sometimes excessive egos.”
“But from there to wanting to demolish the judiciary… it means demolishing what was built in the last ten years. Yet the judiciary has become ever more credible and efficient. Who wants to demolish what was built only acts against national interest. The battle being waged on modifying the Codes is wrong. The Codes are not perfect, there are already 20 unconstitutionality notices from the Constitutional Court, they have to be clarified. But to attempt to make a shield against the judiciary out of the new Penal Code or the new Penal Procedure Code is a big blow that would be applied to the judiciary,” Traian Basescu said.
Approximately 1,000 party representatives from six Moldavian counties – Iasi, Suceava, Botosani, Neamt, Bacau and Vaslui – are taking part in the regional PMP meeting.
