Daniel Barbu was validated by Parliament on Wednesday in the office chairman of the Permanent Electoral Authority (AEP) with 241 votes in favour and 63 against. The former Minister of Culture was proposed by ALDE for this position.
The vote of Deputies and Senators was secret.
The legal committees in the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate validated on Monday, with unanimity of votes, the files of the two candidates nominated for the AEP chairman office, namely Daniel Barbu, proposed by the ALDE group, and Maria Krause, proposed by USR.
The head of AEP cannot be a member of a political party, having 15 days from the validation of the mandate to waive this quality. The AEP chairman’s term of office is eight years and may be renewed only once, romanialibera.ro informs.
The job became vacant just before the parliamentary elections, as Ana Maria Patru, the then head of the institution, announced her resignation. She is prosecuted for three charges of influence peddling and two of money laundering.
The National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) prosecutors in Ploiesti suspect that the software of the institution was bought from a company preferred by the head of the institution. Contracts were granted in exchange for a luxury car and an apartment.
Over time, Daniel Barbu was criticized for a number of controversial statements:
– September 2016: The politician’s job is harder than mining and more risky than a soldier’s mission to Afghanistan;
– December 2012: I was surprised that the HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment programme is half the budget of all the programmes of the Ministry of Culture.