Coalition leaders have reopened the subject of a replacement for Renata Weber as head of the People’s Advocate two months after they slapped the fact that he must be a specialist, without much ties to one party or another. And the coalition has identified two options.
According to the negotiations held in recent months, the party that should have the main say on the People’s Advocate should be UDMR, given that the party led by Kelemen Hunor did not come up with proposals for the heads of TVR, Radio Romania, CNA or Agerpres , and nothing is heard about the Electoral Reform Commission, where he would have liked the presidency.
Therefore, in Monday’s meeting, UDMR advanced the name of Fábián Gyula, lecturer at the Faculty of Law of Babeş-Bolyai University, for the position of People’s Advocate. After the meeting, the coalition leaders avoided the subject of the proposed names. Ludovic Orban said on Tuesday that he is optimistic that by the end of the session, ie at the end of June, there will be another People’s Advocate.
Emotions about Weber’s dismissal
The coalition’s lawyers have only discussed informally so far about the revocation of Renata Weber, being identified several decisions of the People’s Advocate that can be invoked for dismissal: contesting at CCR the reduction of funding of the Romanian Academy of Scientists, scandal regarding the publication of CNSU decisions or August 2020 of the Law on Quarantine and Isolation. But the formalization of the drafting of the draft decision for the revocation of Weber will take place after the political signal is given by the coalition leaders, requiring the convening of a reunited Legal Commission, then a reunited plenary. Coalition sources claim for “Adevărul” that there are “emotions” regarding the settlement of the Weber case, because it will depend on the goodwill of CCR magistrates, since the normative act is subject to constitutional review, and both the People’s Advocate and PSD spoke of attacking it the Court. Technically speaking, the current People’s Advocate’s term ends in 2024, and the dismissal can take place only after “violation of the laws and the Constitution”.
–
–
–
On the other hand, the leader of the UDMR deputies, Csoma Botond, confirmed, for the Hungarian language publication Maszol.ro, that his party supports Fábián Gyula for the position of People’s Advocate. Csoma Botond described Fábián Gyula as a balanced leader, with an “impeccable CV”, given that, during 1994-2005, he was a prosecutor at the Prosecutor’s Offices attached to the Courts of Târgu-Secuiesc, Turda, Cluj-Napoca and Cluj Court, and since 1999 he has been a teacher.
Missed chances at CCR
The Liberals did not let themselves be outdone either. The name announced by Ludovic Orban in the coalition meeting, also as a variant for the People’s Advocate, is Flavius Baias, university professor at the Faculty of Law of the University of Bucharest, specialist in Civil Law and Family Law. Since 1985 he has been a member of the Bucharest Bar, and in 2008-2012 he was also dean of the Faculty of Law, a position from which he resigned during the scandal generated by the plagiarism of Victor Ponta’s doctoral thesis, at that time prime minister. The decision at the time came a day after the Faculty of Law Council decided not to consider the plagiarism allegations against Ponta’s doctoral thesis.
Flavius Baias’s connections with the political area began in 1998, when for two years he was secretary of state at the Ministry of Justice, led by Valeriu Stoica, his colleague from the Faculty of Law and one of the politicians who always supported him. Flavius Baias was nominated in 2004 by the PNL for a position as a judge of the Constitutional Court. But in the end, the PSD proposal, Aspazia Cojocaru, came out to vote. He was also in the books for the position of CCR judge in 2010, but following the negotiations in the Parliament, PDL decided the new constitutional magistrate in the person of Mircea Minea.
Political sources from the UDMR leadership stated for “Adevărul” that the party led by Kelemen Hunor will insist that the name for the People’s Advocate be the one proposed by them, otherwise the coalition could face new blockages: “Common sense would may we have the main say on the new People’s Advocate. PNL and USR-PLUS have established people at TVR and SRR (no. – Romanian Broadcasting Company), they have also established new members of the CNA, and the liberals are reluctant regarding our takeover of the Agerpres leadership. In a coalition, some cannot have almost everything, and others can have nothing. Let’s not forget that we come with a professional man, without a party card, who meets the requirements “.
–
If you like this article, we expect you to join the community of readers on our Facebook page, through a Like below:
.
