





Disputes revived over nomination of new Justice minister in Romania
Among the solutions initially put forward by Liberal party members were to appeal to the Constitutional Court to end the conflict between the presidency and chancellery. House speaker Bogdan Olteanu, a Liberal, had also advanced the hypothesis that the government might appeal as high as to the High Court of Justice.
However, Liberals rejected the presidential solution to let the Parliament cast a confidence vote for Norica Nicolai. They argued that the Legislative can only intervene when the government changes its political component or reshuffles.
Meanwhile, the conflict between the Presidency and the government over judicial issues continues: President Traian Basescu warned Teodor Melescanu, who serves as interim Justice minister, again on Monday that he had no right to censure his decisions nor verify the legality of the documents signed. The scandal broke out last week when Melescanu refused to launch the criminal procedures against eight former and current ministers investigated by anti-graft prosecutors.
Thus, Basescu warned Melescanu to accuse him of abuse in office and launch an investigation against him.