Victor Ponta

Victor Ponta

Victor-Viorel Ponta (born September 20, 1972 in Bucharest ) is a Romanian politician . He was Chairman of the Social Democratic Party ( PSD ) from 2010 to 2015 and Prime Minister of Romania from May 7, 2012 to November 4, 2015 . Since 2018 he has been chairman of the Pro România party .

Life

Studies and professional career

Ponta studied law at the University of Bucharest from 1991 to 1995 . In his curriculum vitae, he listed a master’s degree in international criminal law from the University of Catania in Sicily , which he obtained in 2000, but which, according to the university, he had never done. In 2002 he graduated from the Bucharest University of National Defense "Carol I". In 2003 he received his doctorate from the University of Bucharest. Ponta's doctoral supervisor was his PSD party friend and political foster father Adrian Năstase .

Ponta worked as a prosecutor from 1995 to 1998 and also as a lecturer in criminal law at the Romanian-American University from 1996 to 1998 . From 1998-2001 he was a prosecutor at the Romanian Supreme Court specifically for corruption and money laundering. From 2001 to 2004, Ponta headed the control department of the Romanian government of the Social Democratic Prime Minister Adrian Năstase in the role of State Secretary.

Political career until 2012

In 2002 he became a member of the PSD. From 2002 to 2006 he headed their youth organization. In 2004 Ponta was elected to the Romanian House of Representatives for the first time. In the Boc I cabinet, formed after the 2008 general election , Ponta was Minister for Relations with Parliament. Ponta held this office until October 2009 when the government collapsed and the PSD returned to opposition.

In February 2010, at a party congress, Ponta was elected the new chairman of the largest Romanian opposition party by 856 to 781 votes for the then incumbent chairman of the PSD Mircea Geoană . In spring 2011, Ponta and Crin Antonescu , chairman of the Partidul Național Liberal (PNL), agreed an alliance between their two parties: the Social-Liberal Union . After the fall of the government of Mihai Răzvan Ungureanu , Ponta was commissioned by President Băsescu to form a government on April 27, 2012.

prime minister

On May 7, 2012, the Romanian parliament elected the Social Democrats as prime minister with a clear majority. The Ponta I cabinet consisted of members of the PSD, the PNL and the PC and was also supported by the PSD spin-off UNPR and the parliamentary group of national minorities. The previous governing parties PD-L and UDMR were thus in the opposition.

The clashes between President Traian Băsescu and Ponta led to impeachment proceedings against the President and to a state crisis in Romania . In express decrees, Ponta suspended the constitutional court's right of veto for impeachment proceedings and introduced a simple majority in referendums. The Romanian parliament decided on July 6, 2012 by a majority of the government to suspend Traian Băsescu because of alleged violations of authority. The impeachment was supposed to be confirmed in a referendum on July 29, 2012, but it failed due to insufficient turnout. Following these steps, which critics of Pontas saw as an attempt to get the independent judiciary under its control, the European Union stepped in and called the Prime Minister to order with the threat of suspending EU rights for Romania. In mid-July 2012, Ponta pledged a series of measures to restore international confidence in the rule of law in Romania. At the same time, Ponta described the EU criticism of his government as "fascist propaganda".

On December 9, 2012, Pontas Social Liberal Union (USL) won the general election. After counting more than 80 percent of the votes, Ponta's party received almost 59 percent of the vote. The second government was in office until March 4, 2014. This was followed on March 5, 2014 by the Ponta III cabinet . On December 17, 2014, the fourth government replaced the Ponta III cabinet. It consists of members of the PSD, the PC, the PLR, the PSD spin-off UNPR and non-party members.

Plagiarism affair

In June 2012, Ponta was confronted with allegations of plagiarism. According to a report in the scientific journal Nature , entire text passages from English publications that were translated verbatim into Romanian were included in his dissertation on the International Criminal Court . At least 85 of the 307 pages of the doctoral thesis have been proven to be plagiarism in the "copy-paste process" . Ponta said he wanted to face any investigation and blamed his political rival, President Traian Băsescu, for the allegations. The National Council for the Review of Academic Titles, Diplomas and Certificates (Cnatdcu) originally found the deception, but was enlarged in its composition by express decree so that 25 new members appointed by the Ministry of Education overruled the existing 20 members.

On December 16, 2014, Ponta finally wrote a letter to the rector of the University of Bucharest, in which he declared that he would forego the doctoral degree. The reason he gave was that he wanted to give the new Minister of Education appointed on the same day a successful mandate. In addition, he does not want to damage the reputation of the University of Bucharest. He also announced that after the end of his political career he would again want to do a doctorate according to all applicable standards. The university replied to the letter on the same day and accepted his request to withdraw his doctorate.

Presidential candidacy

In the presidential election on November 2, 2014 , Ponta received 40.33 percent of the vote, while his most important competitor Klaus Johannis (the only one who qualified for a runoff) received 30.44 percent. Both candidates thus missed an absolute majority. They therefore faced a runoff election on November 16, 2014. There were demonstrations in various cities in Romania in the run-up to the runoff election. Thousands demonstrated under the slogan “Ponta, don't forget, Romania doesn't want you” and “Down with corruption” because serious mishaps occurred in the first ballot.

The German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel officially supported Ponta's candidacy despite the serious allegations of corruption and plagiarism.

According to the preliminary results, Klaus Johannis won the presidential election on November 16, 2014. Even before the first extrapolation, Victor Ponta congratulated his competitor on winning the election.

More allegations of corruption

On June 5, 2015, the National Anti-Corruption Agency ( DNA) brought charges against Ponta for forgery , money laundering and tax evasion . She also accused Ponta of being in a conflict of interest with the repeated appointment of his lawyer colleague, business friend and political confidante, ex- Senator Dan Șova (PSD), to his cabinet . Because of both sets of allegations, the DNA applied to the Chamber of Deputies to lift Ponta's political immunity .

According to DNA, Ponta is said to have issued 17 invoices totaling around 40,000 euros to the law firm Șovas in 2008 as part of a cooperation agreement between his and ovas law firm for services that were not actually provided. Subsequently, 16 documents matching the invoices were produced and presented according to the copy & paste principle. Ponta is said to have used the money for the purchase of two “luxury apartments” in Bucharest. “On express request”, Șova's law firm also provided him with an off-road vehicle. The cooperation agreement related to Șova's consultancy agreements with the state power generation companies in Turceni and Rovinari . These were concluded without a proper tendering process and caused damage of around 16 million euros to the state-owned companies, of which 800,000 euros went to the ovas law firm as fees and “success bonuses”.

Immediately after the indictment became known, President Klaus Johannis called Ponta publicly to resign. Ponta refused, arguing that Parliament alone could remove him from office. He then went to Turkey for three weeks unannounced to undergo knee surgery.

On June 9, 2015, the Romanian Chamber of Deputies rejected the lifting of Ponta's immunity with 231 votes against by the parliamentary parliamentary groups, many of whom are also being investigated for corruption offenses, and 120 votes in favor. President Klaus Johannis described this as a "disdain for the citizens". This means that certain investigative measures such as house searches or an arrest against Ponta cannot be carried out, but the corruption investigations can otherwise be continued. In response to the DNA investigations against Ponta, the PSD parliamentary group and its coalition partners want to change 22 places in the penal code. Among other things, the criminal offense of conflict of interest is to be abolished, pre-trial detention in the case of corruption crimes is to be severely restricted and the possibility of indicting prosecutors for “abuse of power” and their civil liability in the event of acquittals is to be created. The Romanian philosopher Andrej Cornea then spoke of a “revolt of crooks and thieves”, the Romanian publicist Ioana Ene Dogioiu of a “total war against the judiciary”.

On June 12, 2015, a vote of no confidence against Ponta by the opposition National Liberal Party (PNL) in both houses of the Romanian parliament failed to reach the required majority of 278 votes with 194 votes.

On July 12, 2015, Ponta resigned from his position as party leader of the PSD in connection with the anti-corruption investigations against him . The next day, the public prosecutor's office placed some of Ponta's assets under compulsory administration and since then has no longer referred to him as a witness but as a suspect. However, Ponta continued to rule out his resignation as prime minister, despite the fact that he announced in January 2015 that he would step down if charged. The public prosecutor's office confiscated one of the Ponta apartments on August 19, 2015 on suspicion of aiding and abetting tax evasion with damage to the state amounting to 51,321 lei (around 11,600 euros , as of August 2015). Ponta denied the allegations and accused the prosecutor of manipulating public opinion and withholding information. On September 17, 2015, the responsible public prosecutor's office in Bucharest announced that the preliminary investigations had shown that corruption would be charged. Ponta is the first incumbent Romanian head of government who has to defend himself in court during his tenure.

Another vote of no confidence brought in by the opposition against Ponta failed on September 29, 2015 in parliament. 207 MPs voted for Ponta's removal, 198 MPs abstained and eight voted against. The motion thus missed the necessary quorum of 275 votes. Before the vote, thousands of demonstrators in front of the parliament building called for the prime minister's resignation.

Resignation from the Prime Minister's office

On November 4, 2015, Ponta announced his resignation from government offices as well as that of his entire cabinet . This was preceded by days of protests and demonstrations with over 20,000 participants in Bucharest, which had been directed against the Prime Minister, Interior Minister Gabriel Oprea and the district mayor Cristian Popescu Piedone. Some of the protesters carried national flags with holes, the symbol of the Romanian Revolution of 1989 .

The trigger for the wave of protests was the devastating fire in a Bucharest nightclub on October 31, 2015, which killed over 60 people. According to President Klaus Johannis, the high number of victims came about because the simplest safety regulations had been ignored. According to the demonstrators, the nightclub owner bought his operating license with bribes and this is symptomatic of the corruption in Romania . The previous Minister of Education, Sorin Cîmpeanu, was named interim head of government .

Pro România

In 2017, Ponta was excluded from the PSD. He had claimed that party leader Liviu Dragnea was lying and manipulating PSD members to protect his own interests. In September 2017 he founded the Pro România party with other excluded or resigned members of the PSD and the ALDE , including the former Agriculture and Education Minister Daniel Constantin and the former Education Minister Sorin Cîmpeanu . Ponta is chairman of the party.

acquittal

The Supreme Court acquitted Ponta on May 10, 2018 in the 17 counts of corruption proceedings, which included counterfeiting, tax fraud and money laundering during his time as a lawyer from 2007 to 2011. The prosecution has ten days to appeal.

Private

Ponta, the Albanian and Italian roots, is in second marriage with the MEPs Daciana Octavia Sârbu , a daughter of former Minister of Agriculture and officer of the secret police Securitate , Ilie Sârbu , married and the couple have a daughter. From his first marriage, Ponta has a son.

Web links

Commons : Victor Ponta  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

• Information about the Prime Minister on the side of the Romanian Government (English)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Prime Minister Victor Ponta resigned , faz.net, November 4, 2015
2. ↑ Premierul şi-a falsificat CV-ul. Preşedintele Universităţii din Catania: Victor Ponta nu a făcut niciun master la Universitatea Catania , Adevărul, July 4, 2012 (accessed July 6, 2012)
3. ↑ Gov.ro ( Memento of the original from April 1, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved November 2, 2014 
4. ^ Siebenbuerger.de - Victor Ponta new chairman of the social democrats in Romania
5. ^ New government confirmed in office. In: derstandard.at . May 7, 2012, accessed December 19, 2014 . 
6. ^ Outrage over Prime Minister Ponta. In: tagesspiegel.de. Retrieved December 19, 2014 . 
7. ↑ EU does not rule out suspension of Romania's membership in the standard of July 13th, retrieved on July 13th 2012
8. ↑ EU puts Romania under pressure: Ponta promises EU measures to uphold the rule of law. In: Focus Online . July 13, 2012, accessed December 19, 2014 . 
9. ↑ Keno Verseck: Basescu deposition in Romania: With the president, the rule of law also overturns. In: Spiegel Online . July 29, 2012, accessed December 19, 2014 . 
10. ↑ Parliamentary elections in Romania: Prime Minister Ponta wins big. In: Spiegel Online . December 10, 2012, accessed December 19, 2014 . 
11. ^ FAZ: Plagiarism allegation against Romania's Prime Minister. In: FAZ.net . June 18, 2012, accessed December 19, 2014 . 
12. ↑ Constance Jamet: Le premier ministre roumain accusé de plagiat at www.lefigaro.fr, June 19, 2012 (accessed June 20, 2012).
13. ^ Q. Schiermeier: Romanian prime minister accused of plagiarism. In: Nature. Volume 486, Number 7403, June 2012, p. 305, ISSN  1476-4687 . doi: 10.1038 / 486305a . PMID 22722168 .
14. ↑ ^{a b} F.AZ: Victor Ponta of plagiarism transferred. In: FAZ.net . June 29, 2012, accessed December 19, 2014 . 
15. ^ Plagiarism allegations against Romania's Prime Minister Ponta. In: welt.de . June 19, 2012, accessed December 19, 2014 . 
16. ↑ Victor Ponta anunta ca renunta la titlul de doctor. In: HotNews.ro . December 16, 2014, accessed December 22, 2014 . 
17. ↑ https://www.welt.de/newsticker/dpa_nt/infoline_nt/brennpunkte_nt/article133924157/Ponta-oder-Iohannis.html
18. ↑ clujcapitala.ro
19. ↑ Digi24: Solidaritate cu alegătorii din diaspora. accessed on November 23, 2014
20. ↑ Martin Woker, Bucharest: Choice of fate in Romania: Mickey Mouse or a solid German. In: nzz.ch. November 16, 2014, accessed December 19, 2014 . 
21. ^ Romania: Klaus Johannis wins presidential election. In: zeit.de . November 17, 2014, accessed December 19, 2014 . 
22. ↑ ^{a b c} Romania's premier under suspicion of corruption . In: Der Standard , June 5, 2015. Retrieved August 22, 2015.
23. ↑ https://www.nrz.de/politik/rumaeniens-ministerpraesident-der-geldwaesche-verdaechtigt-id10745509.html
24. ^ Indictment against Romania's Prime Minister Ponta . In: Der Standard , July 13, 2015. Retrieved August 22, 2015.
25. ^ Romania: Prime Minister Ponta retains immunity - despite corruption investigations . In: Der Spiegel , June 9, 2015. Retrieved August 22, 2015.
26. ↑ The Johannis Effect . In: Der Spiegel , July 25, 2015. Retrieved August 22, 2015.
27. ↑ The Romanian Parliament does not lift the Prime Minister's immunity . In: Der Standard , June 9, 2015. Retrieved August 22, 2015.
28. ^ Romania: Prime Minister Ponta retains immunity - despite corruption investigations . In: Der Spiegel , June 9, 2015. Retrieved August 22, 2015.
29. ^ Power struggle in Romania: revolt of the corrupt . In: Der Spiegel , June 14, 2015. Retrieved August 22, 2015.
30. ^ Romania: Prime Minister Ponta survives motion of no confidence . In: Der Spiegel , June 12, 2015. Retrieved August 22, 2015.
31. ^ Indictment against Romania's Prime Minister Ponta . In: Der Standard , July 13, 2015. Retrieved August 20, 2015.
32. ^ Indictment against Romania's Prime Minister Ponta . In: Der Standard , July 13, 2015. Retrieved August 20, 2015.
33. ^ Romania's Prime Minister Ponta wants to stay . In: Frankfurter Rundschau , July 17, 2015. Accessed August 22, 2015.
34. ↑ The Romanian Prime Minister's apartment confiscated . In: Der Standard , August 19, 2015. Retrieved August 22, 2015.
35. ^ Indictment against Prime Minister Ponta decided. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, September 17, 2015, accessed on September 17, 2015 . 
36. ↑ Ponta survives a vote of no confidence. Deutsche Welle, September 29, 2015, accessed on September 29, 2015 . 
37. ↑ Reaction to fire disaster: Romania's government resigns. In: Der Spiegel from November 4, 2015. Retrieved November 5, 2015.
38. ^ Romania's Prime Minister Victor Ponta resigns. In: Deutsche Welle, November 4, 2015. Retrieved November 5, 2015.
39. ^ Stephan Ozsváth: Romania's government resigns. ( Memento from November 6, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) In: Tagesschau.de from November 4, 2015. Retrieved on November 5, 2015.
40. ↑ New interim head of government named.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.   In: Deutsche Welle from November 6, 2015. Retrieved November 6, 2015.
41. ↑ Victor Ponta anunta ca din toamna intra intr-un partid nou. Liviu Dragnea: "De cateva zile simt o raceala si fac tattament" stirileprotv.ro July 6, 2017
42. ↑ FAZ, September 29, 2017, p. 5.
43. ^ Pro Romania political project, launched by Victor Ponta, Daniel Constantin, Sorin Cimpeanu as “an alternative to the current parties' offer”. In: Nine o'clock , September 4, 2017.
44. ↑ Ex-Prime Minister Ponta acquitted in corruption proceedings. In: www.nzz.ch. May 10, 2018, accessed May 10, 2018 . 
45. ↑ Alina Neagu Marţi: Victor Ponta a povestit, la Tirana, ca familia bunicului sau a venit in Romania din satul albanez Moscopole. In: m.hotnews.ro from March 18, 2014. Retrieved November 5, 2015.
46. ↑ Ponta despre numele lui: "Viorel" vine de la naşa, "Ponta" vine de la familia mea, Ponte, din Trieste In: mediafax.ro of July 24, 2014. Retrieved on November 5, 2015
47. ^ Romania's Prime Minister Ponta wants to stay . In: Frankfurter Rundschau , July 17, 2015. Accessed August 22, 2015.