USR files criminal complaint against Liviu Dragnea for convening Chamber of Deputies without the Standing Bureau’s decision

The Save Romania Union (USR) has filed a criminal complaint on Friday to the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) against the Chamber of Deputies Speaker, Liviu Dragnea, for abuse of office, forgery, use of forgery, related to the decision to convene the lower chamber, on Monday, without having the decision from the chamber’s Standing Bureau. The announcement was made by Ionut Mosteanu, USR deputy.

“The criminal complaint aims at abuse of office, forgery and use of forgery. Basically, Mr. Liviu Dragnea signed a decision and sent it to the Official Gazette, the decision to summon the Chamber of Deputies on Monday, without having the decision of the Chamber’s Standing Bureau. The Standing Bureau met on Tuesday, at 11.00h, however Liviu Dragnea missed this sitting, the sitting did not have the quorum and we believe this was an act of abuse of office,” Ionut Mosteanu said.

USR announced on Wednesday it will file a criminal complaint to the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) against the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Liviu Dragnea.

“What happened yesterday and the previous day by non-convening the Standing Bureau is a classic case of abuse of office. Practically, the plenary meeting was held without meeting the legal conditions. Mr. Liviu Dragnea published in the Official Gazette the summoning (of parliament – our note) which did not meet the conditions set by the Constitution and by the Regulation, which make it very clear that this initiative to convene an extraordinary session may belong to the President of Romania, the Standing Bureau or to a third of the deputies. None of the conditions has been fulfilled and Mr. Liviu Dragnea has claimed that these conditions were fulfilled,” USR spokesman Dan Barna said in a press conference in Parliament.

On Tuesday, Chamber of Deputies Deputy Speaker, Florin Iordache, who took over the duties from the chamber’s Speaker, Liviu Dragnea, who is on holiday, said that the extraordinary session was convened following a telephone consultation by the Secretary General with the members of the Standing Bureau and with the group leaders. According to him, the PSD, ALDE, PMP and UDMR deputies, i.e. nine votes ‘for’, two against from PNL, and three undecided. Based on this telephone consultation, the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies convened an extraordinary session, Iordache said.