Legal committee denies President re-examination request on ANI law, so MPs get away with the conflict of interest

The lawmakers who have been found in conflict of interest during 2007-2013 are getting away with the sanctions. The legal committee of the Chamber of Deputies has rejected the re-examination request asked by President Iohannis on the bill amending the National Integrity Agency Law, initiated by SocDem Florin Iordache. The draft law had been declared unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court.

The amendments targeted by the ruling party actually referred to removing interdictions against MPs found in conflict of interest during 2007-2013.

While calling for the law to be vetoed, Iohannis argued that by passing it, Romania would break the commitments as a EU member state.

“(…) On one hand, the general public interest doesn’t justify such a stipulation, as integrity standards are broken and on the other hand, it questions Romania’s ability to observe its commitments taken as a member state of the European Union,” the head of state was mentioning in the re-examination request.

The bill table by Florin Iordache aimed at amending the law 176/2010 on the integrity in exerting public offices, while proposing that interdictions against people who used to be senators or deputies and had been found guilty of conflict of interest based on the ANI evaluation reports, should be removed.