CNADTCU withdraws Victor Ponta’s PhD title. The former PM posts ironic reply

The National Council for Attesting Titles, Diplomas and Certificates (CNATDCU) has decided on Thursday to withdraw the doctoral title of former Prime Minister Victor Ponta.

According to the council, former Prime Minister Victor Ponta had plagiarised in his PhD dissertation, as sources from the Ministry of Education said Wednesday evening.

The sources said members of the Technical Council have completed the report on the doctoral work of former Prime Minister Victor Ponta and have recommended the withdrawal of Victor Ponta’s PhD paper.

According to hotnews.ro, out of the 35 present members, 34 voted the work as plagiarism and there was one abstention.

The decision comes four years after ‘Nature’ magazine raised questions about the originality of Victor Ponta’s PhD work.

Former PM Ponta has constantly denied the plagiarism accusations and tried to minimize the relevance of ‘Nature’ magazine’s disclosure, nevertheless by the end of 2014 he tried to give up the PhD title (obtained in 2003 from the Bucharest University).

Victor Ponta’s scientific advisor for this thesis was former Adrian Nastase, who was prime minister in 2003. Victor Ponta was at that time Secretary of State with the Nastase cabinet.

Victor Ponta posts ironic reply

Former Premier Victor Ponta answered ironically to the CNADTCU decision on Thursday by saying that “the technocrats have solved the country’s main problem.”

“OK, the technocrats have solved the country’s main problem – they’ve taken away my PhD work (as Basescu did in 2012)! I understand that from now on (after this new victory) everything will be all right – as of today revenues to the state budget will start growing and we’ll have no deficit/ starting today we can get the European money we’ve failed to collect so far/ as of today we’re going to pay all the subsidies for agriculture, we are going to increase the salaries and pensions/ as of today the babies will not die in hospitals and the subjects will be easier for the capacity exams/ and starting today we are not the ‘staff’ the technocrats are selling to Brussels in order to get a promotion when they get back there!” Ponta wrote on Facebook.

He added he feels ‘honoured’ to have been in the executive’s focus.

“I am honoured by the effort made by the technocrats’ government for my person – an emergency ordinance just for me, a committee set up just for me (when I got the non-plagiarism verdict in 2012 from the same CNADTCU there was also another PhD work examined at the same time – I bet you don’t have the courage to check that one again)/ a final ruling by the ICCJ (Supreme Court – our note) in 2014 is being ignored! Thank you from my heart, dear politruks! From now on I will be working on a fresh PhD work called ‘The fabulous technocrat governance and its great achievements for the Romanian people’ – that will be fun!!!” Ponta concluded.