Romanian Ruling Party Boss Won't Rule Out Suspending President

(Bloomberg) -- Romanian Social Democrat party leader Liviu Dragnea said he won’t exclude an attempt to suspend President Klaus Iohannis because of his stalling to sign off on a Constitutional Court ruling to fire the top anti-corruption prosecutor.

Liviu Dragnea, Romania’s de-facto leader, said for the first time on Monday he may seek to suspend Iohannis over the delay to fire Laura Codruta Kovesi. Clashes between the country’s two top officials have escalated in the past week as the president called on the party boss to resign as parliament speaker and quit politics following the top court’s decision to hand Dragnea a sentence of 3 1/2 years in jail in an initial ruling. Dragnea refuses to step down and has said he’s being unfairly targeted by anti-corruption prosecutors.

“It’s unacceptable to wait this long to abide by a Constitutional Court decision, he’s making a mockery of the Constitutional Court,” Dragnea said.

Iohannis rejects the possibility as groundless. If parliament approves a suspension, the government has 30 days to call a referendum on whether to impeach the head of state.

To contact the reporter on this story: Irina Vilcu in Bucharest at isavu@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Andrea Dudik at adudik@bloomberg.net, Paul Abelsky

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