Romanian prime minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu informed President Traian Basescu in a letter on Wednesday that he sticks to the nomination of Liberal Senator for the seat of Justice minister, a day after Basescu informed him in a letter that he he disagreed with her nomination. Tariceanu fiercely attacked the head of state, saying Basescu couldn't reject a person "for the simple reason of bearing a strong political and personal dislike" towards her.
Tariceanu also reminded in the letter two cases in which the Romanian head of state has been long linked under corruption allegations. He also recalled a case in which former Justice minister Monica Macovei, who was removed from the government in a major reshuffle last spring, was alleged to have influenced a court case that allowed her parents to gain a nationalized property.
The Liberal government nominated Nicolai, a Senator who has been connected to a series of intelligence, political and corruption scandals over the years, for the seat of Justice minister late last year after ex-minister Tudor Chiuariu resigned under the pressure of a corruption scandal. Chiuariu replaced Macovei as Justice minister in the reshuffle last year.
President Basescu rejected Norica Nicolai's nomination this week arguing that the Romanian Justice minister must be a person with no tainted past who can be trusted at home and abroad for doing her job well - which he suggested was not Nicolai's case.
