Former PSD leader and ex-District 5 mayor, Marian Vanghelie, has stated that former premier Victor Ponta, Ponta’s father-in-law, Ilie Sarbu, and former SRI director, George Maior, had set a list of 15 people in the party who should have been arrested, as they were ‘inconvenient’ both for Ponta and for the system.
“(…) Victor Ponta, Ilie Sarbu and George Maior negotiated the list that enabled the arrests, meaning the party members who were inconvenient. I knew about this list, I talked about it with many, Gheorghe Nichita, Olguta Vasilescu, Duicu, Nicolescu from Arges, it was a list of 15 people. Some names were inconvenient, some came from Ponta, others from the system that wanted some leaders out of politics,” Vanghelie told Antena 3 broadcaster.
He added that former PM and ex-PSD chairman Ponta went to ex-president Traian Basescu’s place and asked him to name him Justice minister. According to Vanghelie, Ponta would have sent Ioan Rus to the DNA head Laura Codruta Kovesi to express his endorsement, although Basescu had already voiced his support for her.
“I think Ponta had all the power and he is the main culprit. Dragnea is guilty, too. We are in 2018, a lot of colleagues are in jail because of some negotiations and barters in the party (…) The deal between Basescu and Ponta, through Elena Udrea, was: Ponta said <I name Nitu and Bica (for the positions of Prosecutor General and DIICOT chief prosecutor) and he told Basescu <you support Kovesi>. But Ponta made some dirty things. During negotiations with Udrea, he tried to fool both Basescu and Udrea, and sent Ioan Rus to Brussels to negotiate and to tell Kovesi that he is endorsing her, so besides Basescu’s endorsement,” the former district 5 mayor said.
Vanghelie also claimed that Victor Ponta went to Basescu’s house.
“Ponta came frantic two or three times to ask Geoana to tell Predoiu that PSD is endorsing Alina Bica as secretary of state, Ponta had negotiated that with Maior, who was the system’s and Basescu’s representative (…) Ponta even went to Basescu place to ask him to be named minister of Justice. Seeing he cannot obtain the position, he came out with the option to appoint Bica as secretary of state on PSD’s behalf. Victor went all by himself, he also knew how to sell Mircea Geoana at the presidential elections, he talked to all, from Maior to Gabriel Oprea, if someone would want to see the transcripts of his phone conversations, would be surprised,” Vanghelie also said.
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Labour minister Olguta Vasilescu, mentioned by Vanghelie, confirmed that he had warned her in 2014 that there is a list of SocDem members that will be investigated and will have files. Vasilescu added that shortly after that, investigations started in the file where she is charged with corruption.
“I can confirm Marian Vanghelie called in 2014 telling me I am on a list and a file was being ‘coined’ against me. After less than a month, the file emerged,” she said, also adding that there was at some point a debate in the party that Ponta is preparing to be president, Maior, premier and Oprea SRI director. ‘I thought it was hilarious, for PSD will never accept Maior as leading the government.
Former Iasi mayor, Gheorghe Nichita, also on the list quoted by Vanghelie, confirmed the list as well and claimed that after he had been arrested, a prosecutor from DNA Bucharest had asked him to turn several party leaders in, including Victor Ponta, Liviud Dragnea, Olguta Vasilescu. “Then, I was told to give them the name of “a heavy” minister.”
“The <Jihad> started in 2013, when the Americans and SRI, but also others, set up a program (…) to take inconvenient people from the parties and from the local administration,” Nichita said.
In his turn, the leader of PSD Cluj, Horia Nasra, also slammed Ponta, saying the former PM was Trojan horse inside PSD, manipulated by Traian Basescu, Elena Udrea and other influential statesmen. Nasra compared Ponta with the former Russian inter-war premier, Lavrenti Beria.
The leader of PSD Vaslui, Dumitru Buzatu, said that no one cannot have a measure of truth of what Vanghelie has said, but opined that his allegations are serious and must be checked.