January 9 (SeeNews) - Romania's president Klaus Iohannis on Wednesday again refused to appoint Adina Florea as head of the country's anti-corruption agency DNA.
The president said in a statement that the law prohibits the appointment in key positions of magistrates who were part of the Communist-era intelligence services or who might have personal interests influencing their decisions and activity.
The document sent by justice minister Tudorel Toader, who has nominated Florea, does not prove that she did not participate in the intelligence services before 1990 or did not cooperate with them, a press release from the presidency office showed.
For the same reasons, Iohannis refused to appoint Florea in November. Florea was nominated by Toader in December for the second time.
Florea is a prosecutor at the in the Black Sea port city of Constanta and is currently delegated to the Prosecutor’s Office of the Constanta Appeal Court. Her nomination must be endorsed by the Superior Council of Magistracy and by president Klaus Iohannis, according to the law.
In July, the Romanian Prosecutor’s Office named Anca Jurma as interim head of DNA to succeed Laura Kovesi, who had been dismissed. On Tuesday, Jurma's six months interim mandate expired and she stepped down, saying that she will not seek another term at DNA.
In April, Iohannis rejected Toader's proposal to dismiss Kovesi. Toader claimed Kovesi had damaged the country's image abroad. In response, the Romanian government took the case to the Constitutional Court which ruled that the president must dismiss Kovesi.
The ruling coalition of the Social Democrat Party (PSD) and the Liberal-Democrat Alliance (ALDE) threatened to seek the suspension of Iohannis over his refusal to comply with the Constitutional Court decision. Subsequently, Iohannis obeyed the top court's ruling, signing the decree to dismiss Kovesi in July.
On Wednesday, Kovesi announced that she has challenged her dismissal at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), saying that this is just a matter of principle and that she is not looking for to be reinstated as DNA chief.
The deadlock in the justice system is even bigger as last week, Iohannis rejected a proposal by Tudorel Toader to sack prosecutor general Augustin Lazar.
Toader said in October that he is seeking the dismissal of Lazar for allegedly exceeding his authority and mismanaging the activities of the anti-corruption agency DNA.