Europe | Go directly to jail

A big conviction shows Romania’s war on corruption is back on track

Liviu Dragnea, the country's most powerful politician, tried to change the law to stay out of prison, but failed

THE WAR against corruption in Romania has seen its ups and downs since the country joined the European Union, but on May 27th the rule of law won a big battle. Liviu Dragnea, leader of the governing Social Democratic Party (PSD), was sent to prison for three and a half years, after an appeals court upheld his conviction for keeping two party workers in fictitious jobs on the state’s payroll. His downfall will touch off a scramble for power. More important, it is a victory for elements of Romania’s judiciary that are fighting to clean up the country.

The conviction is the latest win for Romania’s National Anti-Corruption Directorate (DNA), an independent prosecutor’s office that has put thousands of officials and businessmen in jail. The DNA has dealt with Mr Dragnea before: in 2015 it convicted him of electoral fraud, a felony that barred him from serving as prime minister. Yet after the PSD and its coalition partners, the Liberal Democrats (ALDE), took office in December 2016, he became, in effect, the country’s most powerful politician. As head of the PSD and president of the legislature, he turned the full energy of the government towards keeping himself out of prison.

In 2017 the government tried to pass laws letting corrupt lawmakers off the hook by emergency decree, but backed down after huge street protests. It then turned to passing the measures piecemeal. Last year the Justice Ministry set up a unit to bring charges against prosecutors who “abused” their power, a clear attempt to intimidate the DNA. The ministry also fired Laura Codruta Kovesi (see film below), the agency’s hard-driving director.

The deteriorating situation led the European Commission to send Romania a warning. Things have been especially embarrassing since Romania currently holds the EU’s rotating presidency. But it also prompted Klaus Iohannis, Romania’s president and a good-government type, to launch a referendum asking voters whether they approved of weakening anti-corruption measures. On May 26th, the same day that most of Europe was voting for the new EU parliament, 80% of Romanian voters said no. They also dealt the PSD a huge defeat in the election, giving it just 23% of the vote.

Many wondered whether the court’s abrupt announcement of a verdict had something to do with the PSD’s defeat. “The people spoke, and then the judges rediscovered their courage,” said Cristian Ghinea, a newly elected MEP for the Save Romania Union (USR), an anti-corruption party. The USR and other opposition parties are readying a motion to topple the government. But Radu Magdin, a political consultant, said the coalition would probably stick together and defeat the measure out of fear that early elections would favour the opposition. The PSD, meanwhile, will try to purge officials tied to Mr Dragnea, said Oana Popescu, head of GlobalFocus, a think tank.

The party will struggle to find a new leader. “The system was very personalised, like [under] the Ottomans—everything was about Dragnea. It is in collapse now. No one knows who is in charge,” said Mr Ghinea. Viorica Dancila, the prime minister, is seen as weak. Other party big-wigs, such as the mayor of Bucharest, Gabriela Firea, says she does not even want to lead the party.

Many observers had worried that Romania was losing its war on corruption and going the way of Viktor Orban’s Hungary. Mr Dragnea’s sentencing has given them renewed hope. “The checks and balances in Romania worked, unlike in Hungary,” said Laura Stefan, an expert on rule-of-law issues at the Expert Forum think-tank in Bucharest. “Dragnea was not able to pass amendments to the criminal code, and he failed at the court. It shows there are limits to what you can do, even if you are the most powerful person in Romania.”

Correction (May 29th 2019): An earlier version of this article had stated that the National Liberals (PNL) were the Social Democrats' coalition partners. The PNL is an opposition party. The Social Democrats' coalition partners are the Liberal Democrats (ALDE).

Discover more

Vladimir Putin blames an Islamist attack on Ukraine and America

How to use a disastrous security failure to bolster dictatorship

Why the French are drinking less wine

A younger generation is rejecting old Mediterranean habits