Eurasia Press & News
BUCHAREST -The Romanian parliament Wednesday approved criminal action against former prime minister Adrian Nastase, who faces corruption charges.
In a vote, 158 deputies agreed to a request made by anti-corruption prosecutors, while 128 opposed the move.
“This is an important step for parliament’s credibility,” said Roberta Anastase, the chamber’s president.
Investigations into Nastase’s activities had been blocked for more than a year after parliament changed the law to make it more difficult to take action against serving and former ministers.
Nastase has said he is the target of a “political” campaign but had urged deputies to vote for the charges.
The former head of the Social Democrat government is alleged to have received a special low price for the building of a home in Bucharest in return for naming a person involved to a top job at the public works ministry.
Nastase is also alleged to have kept the head of a money laundering investigation office in his post in return for dropping an inquiry into a EUR1 million inheritance that his wife received.
