Romanian anti-corruption prosecutors have charged deputy Prime Minister Liviu Dragnea with vote fraud after allegedly trying to manipulate the 2012 referendum to impeach the country™s president.
The Romanian public prosecutor™s office filed the charges on Monday, stating that Dragnea falsified data to increase the level of turnout.
Prosecutors also say that Dragnea abused his power with a campaign to lure Romanians to vote.
Moreover, prosecutors said that Dragnea™s supporters had offered money and sometimes used threats in a bid to get voters to the polling stations.
œDragnea coordinated a complex machine in which he involved other people over whom he had influence because of his position, with the purpose of distorting the election turnout results,” the prosecutors said in a statement.
The deputy prime minister has denied the charges against him and rejected calls for him to step down.
In addition to indicting Dragnea, prosecutors also filed charges against another 74 people in the case.
In July 2012, Prime Minister Victor Ponta™s governing coalition called for the referendum in an attempt to impeach President Traian Basescu, but the vote was declared invalid due to a low turnout.
The European Union has put the Romanian justice system under special monitoring, saying it lacks political independence.
Romania™s justice system is one of the major topics in the country™s discussions with the EU over joining the visa-free Schengen area.
The European Union considers Romania an unsuitable candidate as the Union has concerns over corruption and political influence in its second-poorest member state.
Romania became a member of the European Union in 2007 and is ranked by Transparency International as one of the Union™s most corrupt countries.
CAH/HSN
Copyright: Press TV