ROMANIA: Justice Minister Monica Macovei says she is determined to pursue anti-corruption drive despite losing confidence vote in parliament

Romanian Justice Minister Monica Macovei says she is determined to pursue Romania's anti-corruption drive despite losing a confidence vote in parliament brought by opposition parliamentarians to try to force her out of the government. Romania's government is determined to pursue its anti-corruption drive in the face of growing efforts by some opposition politicians to protect corrupt practices, Justice Minister Monica Macovei says. Last month, a few weeks after Romania joined the European Union on Jan. 1, Macovei lost a confidence vote in parliament brought by opposition parliamentarians to try to force her out of the government. "I ask myself which is the real reason (for the vote of no confidence) because it is not anything which is in the motion, so I don't see any other real reason that to, to get rid of me in connection, in particular with the flight against corruption," said Macovei Prime Minister Calin Tariceanu kept her in his cabinet and Macovei vowed to stay, saying the vote was an attempt by some politicians to ensure their own corruption went unchecked. "What happened in the last year and a half is that we started the reform of the political class. The politicians are investigated independent of the parties they come from," the soft-spoken minister told Reuters in an interview this week. "Everything (that) happens these days is a sign that the fight against corruption is serious otherwise we would not face such reactions from politicians." Macovei, an internationally respected civil rights lawyer widely credited with introducing anti-corruption reforms that helped Romania earn EU membership, said she was confident the reformed judiciary would continue to combat widespread abuse. Since winning power in 2004 on an anti-corruption ticket, the centrist government has introduced measures to ensure judicial independence and a system of checks on politicians to curb the influence-peddling that was once rife in Romania. However, according to Transparency International's corruption perception index, Romania remains the EU's most corrupt member. Macovei has battled resistance to judicial reforms throughout her mandate, particularly from the ex-communist Social Democrat Party (PSD) which lost power to the centrists and had been blamed for allowing graft foster during its rule. Opposition to the reforms has increased since Romania joined the EU. The leftists and far-right politicians combined forces in parliament to bring the confidence vote against Macovei. Critics say her fight against fraud has failed to yield results and become instead a hunt for "spectacular cases". However, Macovei has gained the support of civic groups in Romania who have staged rallies in Budapest backing her push for more transparency and stricter controls on conflict of interest. "It's very important to me, and to all those who participate to this reforming process that there is support from the public opinion," she said. Diverging from its anti-graft fight would put the new EU member at risk of sanctions later this year from Brussels, which could refuse to recognise decisions by Romanian courts. The EU has asked Romania to establish an agency to monitor the wealth of politicians and to show progress in catching top-level crooks. Macovei said parliament might pass a law on the agency by the end of March despite a boycott of Senate proceedings by some opposition politicians.

ITN Source | March 7, 2007

Tags:. .civil. .ticket. .respected. .instead. .reactions