Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta, who is also country's interim Justice Minister, on Wednesday nominated Tiberiu Nitu and Codruta Kovesi for the posts of Chief Prosecutor and head of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate, the DNA.

The move was a surprise as Ponta on Tuesday announced that he will pass responsibility for naming the new heads of main anti-corruption institutions to the future Justice Minister.

"We have decided to continue discussions to find the proper criteria for choosing the head of the DNA. Most likely the new Justice Minister will nominate this person," Ponta said on Tuesday, following discussions with the Superior Council of Magistrates, CSM, a body tasked with defending the reputation of magistrates and protecting their independence and impartiality.

On March 26 Ponta replaced Minister Mona Pivniceru temporarily for up to 45 days as interim Justice Minister.

Heads of Romania's main anti-corruption institutions have to be nominated by the Justice Minister and sent to President Traian Basescu for approval, who has the final say.

Media reports say Ponta tried to nominate Codruta Kovesi as the new head of the DNA as the young judge was supposedly agreed by Basescu.

But the nomination was strongly opposed by the Liberal Party, PNL, a junior member in the ruling coalition led by Ponta's Social Democratic Party, PSD.

"I think it is a big mistake, from the judicial point of view, as well as from the political point of view, to name Kovesi," Crin Antonescu, the PNL leader, said.

Antonescu also said his party on Wednesday will announce the name of the new Justice Minister, a post which is allocated to the PNL, according to the coalition agreement.

The nomination of new DNA head is seen as posing an important test of the government's seriousness in clamping down on corruption.

In January, President Basescu turned down the Justice Minister's candidates for the posts of Chief Prosecutor and head of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate.

"The selection procedure wasn't sufficiently open to encourage more qualified prosecutors to be interested in the posts," he said.

Basescu added that the Justice Minister has to change the selection criteria to try to find the best professionals to head the country's top anti-corruption bodies.

Romania is still considered one of the most corrupt states in the European Union and has made only limited progress in fighting graft and organised crime since it joined the EU in 2007.

Romania has drawn repeated criticism from the European Commission for its failure to tackle the problem.

BalkanInsight              03/04/2013