President of the Social Democrat Party, Victor Ponta said his party wouldn’t veto Eduard Hellvig’s nomination as director of the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI), but underlined that the Social Democrats want a public debate on the non-political nominations for the non-political institutions.
“We would have preferred a person outside the National Liberal Party to be nominated. It is a principle that we respect. But we respect the right of President Iohannis to suggest the person to run SRI,” Ponta said on Monday.
On the other hand, he said that Social Democrats knew Hellvig and that they worked with him very well within the Social Liberal Union (USL). “We consider him as a balanced person who can fulfill all tasks in his new position. So, we won’t oppose his nomination,” Ponta explained.
Yet, the Prime Minister said the ruling party wants a public debate that should tackle the idea of nominating non-political persons in the non-political institutions.
He reminded that the National Liberal Party voted against PSD nominations for SRI, against Radu Timofte in 2000 and against George Maior in 2006. “This time we won’t veto their nomination, we are not like them. We want the legitimacy of the heads of institutions such as SRI to be as increased as possible,” PM Ponta also stated.
MEP Eduard Hellvig, nominated by President Iohannis to run SRI will be heard on Tuesday by the special parliamentary committees. The joint Permanent Bureaus of the Parliament will decide on Wednesday the day of the final vote in the plenum.