The progress made in the fight against corruption can no longer be wiped out surreptitiously through emergency ordinances “dedicated to a handful of politicians,” former Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos remarks in a Facebook post on Thursday.
“The same politicians who already killed two corruption prevention measures in healthcare and education which had been adopted in 2016 and which earned praise in the latest CVM report: the contest for school directors and the new objective and transparent criteria for the selection of hospital managers,” Ciolos writes.
According to the former Prime Minister, “determined steps forward” have been made last year towards the strengthening of progress in the judiciary.
“Romania has been striving for years now to prove that it is capable to ensure justice independence and the rule of law and when finally this happens, a handful of politicians jump in to undermine this achievement. Last year we took determined steps towards strengthening progress in justice and the preparation of institutional responsibility for this process, and the right direction is acknowledged in the CVM report. As a matter of fact in 2016 we also made sustained diplomatic efforts to explain the progress made and we even received assurances that the conclusion of the justice monitoring mechanism is nearing,” said Dacian Ciolos.
The former PM also said that reforms in the judiciary are not implemented “to please” the European Commission or some other states, adding that he is confident that the progress made in this regard is “irreversible.”
“The recent reaction of the magistrates, who unanimously rejected attempts to brutally impose changes of justice legislation show how justice monitoring has created the necessary space for the development of a professional body that no longer accepts political interventions and half-measures in the fight against corruption. I am confident that the progress made in justice is irreversible as long as the many who believe in justice will not yield to the few who want to ‘buy’ themselves a little freedom,” Ciolos notes.
