PM Ponta rejects President's request to resign

Prime Minister Victor Ponta refused to resign on Friday, as asked by President Klaus Iohannis.

"I had a very correct and civil institutional talk with President Klaus Iohannis! I respect his public position, but I was appointed by the Parliament and only the Parliament can dismiss me! I think the observance of constitutional principles is vital for our society, and under no circumstances can I accept a DNA [Anticorruption Directorate] prosecutor is above the Parliament, the Government and the citizens of this country! It would mean dictatorship, and I think that more than 25 years after 1989 it would be a major error for us all," Ponta wrote on his Facebook page, after meeting the President.

President Klaus Iohannis had requested Prime Minister Victor Ponta resign.

"Today [Friday], the National Anticorruption Directorate has publicly communicated that Prime Minister Victor Ponta is charged with major offenses. In my opinion, it is an impossible situation for Romania to have the Prime Minister charged with major offenses. On the other hand, the worst thing that could happen to Romania now is a political crisis. Considering all these, I am calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Victor Ponta," the President declared at the Cotroceni Palace

The National Anticorruption Directorate had announced on Friday a criminal investigation against Ponta for forgery, complicity to tax evasion and money laundering in his former capacity of lawyer, and for conflict of interests in his current capacity of Prime Minister. AGERPRES