SUNDAY,
MARCH 26, 2006
BUCHAREST When Monica Macovei
decided to return to her native Romania for a short holiday in December 2004,
she had not expected a telephone call from Prime Minister Calin Tariceanu asking
her to become justice minister.
Tariceanu, whose centrist coalition had just defeated the Social Democratic Party (the former Communists), had promised, if elected, to stamp out corruption in the highest levels of the political establishment and administration.
For Tariceanu, time was of the essence. The European Union had repeatedly warned Romania that unless it started tackling corruption, the country's accession to the EU, planned for January 2007, could be delayed.
For Macovei, a lawyer who had spent most of her career dealing with human rights issues, Tariceanu's offer was a daunting challenge - but one she could not refuse.
"I accepted the job because I really wanted to reform the judicial system," said Macovei, 47, a soft-spoken woman who had been advising the Council of Europe in Sarajevo over judicial reform when she was called to duty at home. "It was time we started the fight against crime and corruption in a serious way."
But taking on the high-profile position of justice minister in Romania these days carries enormous risks.
For one thing, Tariceanu's promises to fight corruption have raised the public's expectations. Since the execution in December 1989 of the dictator Nicole Ceausescu, people have been repeatedly disappointed by justice ministers who promised to combat corruption but delivered little, neither curbing the practice of bribes nor bringing corruption charges against politicians who merited them.
"We are talking about the classical form of corruption," said Macovei. "It is the abuse of public funds to make profit. This spills over into economic crimes because, at the end of the day, a bribe is given for something in return."
She admitted she found it difficult to explain why corruption was so rampant and deep in Romania, a country of 22 million people on the Black Sea.
"Maybe you should ask a psychologist. Perhaps it's a combination of being ruled by the Ottoman Empire and later being under a communist system."
Now, Macovei says, with the change of government in December 2004, immense pressure from the EU to deal with corruption, and wide support from the public, the days when politicians were immune from the law are finally coming to an end.
"In the past, there was a lack of political will to deal with corruption," said Macovei during a late-night interview at her dimly lit but spacious office, tucked away in a giant neoclassical style building in the heart of Bucharest's administrative district.
"There was, for example, political pressure on the prosecutors by politicians not to investigate cases," she said.
Despite the government's commitment to reform the judiciary, Macovei added, it has taken her more than 14 months to introduce crucial legislation that will allow the country's Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office to investigate senior politicians and judges. Only since January have politicians been legally required to make public (on the Internet) their assets and how political parties are financed.
Asked who had been blocking the government's reforms, she said that there had always been "invisible pressure" on the prosecutor's office to drop cases.
"I can't tell you that politician A called the prosecutor's office," she said. "No. The point is that the prosecutor's office would open a case and nothing would happen."
There are "visible obstacles" too. In February, for example, Macovei said, the law to investigate senior politicians and judges was blocked by the opposition Socialist Party in the Senate and obstructed in the lower house by its speaker, Adrian Nastase, the party's former leader. Nastase, a communist official during the Ceausescu era, had run for president in December 2004 but was defeated by the center-right candidate, Traian Basescu.
The law was eventually pushed through after furious protests over the delay from the European Union, the United States, and Macovei herself, who said that any further delay would damage Romania's chances of joining the EU on schedule in January.
The prosecution moved quickly to press charges against Nastase, who allegedly accepted bribes and evaded taxes relating to a legacy from his wife's aunt and a construction project.
This month, he stepped down as speaker and was replaced by Bogdan Olteanu from the governing National Liberal Party.
EU officials say they can see some results.
"The new government is working at dealing with corruption," said Franz- Hermann Brüner, director general of the EU's anti-fraud office. "It is opening investigations and showing results. Things are changing."
Macovei has no illusions about corruption disappearing before January, but says the EU should admit Romania anyway.
"We all know that we will not be ready to implement all the measures," she said. "But we are on an irreversible path. We can prove to the EU member states and the European Commission that we have functioning institutions which can efficiently fight corruption."
As for returning to Sarajevo once the job is done, she said, "My bags are still there."
Tariceanu, whose centrist coalition had just defeated the Social Democratic Party (the former Communists), had promised, if elected, to stamp out corruption in the highest levels of the political establishment and administration.
For Tariceanu, time was of the essence. The European Union had repeatedly warned Romania that unless it started tackling corruption, the country's accession to the EU, planned for January 2007, could be delayed.
For Macovei, a lawyer who had spent most of her career dealing with human rights issues, Tariceanu's offer was a daunting challenge - but one she could not refuse.
"I accepted the job because I really wanted to reform the judicial system," said Macovei, 47, a soft-spoken woman who had been advising the Council of Europe in Sarajevo over judicial reform when she was called to duty at home. "It was time we started the fight against crime and corruption in a serious way."
But taking on the high-profile position of justice minister in Romania these days carries enormous risks.
For one thing, Tariceanu's promises to fight corruption have raised the public's expectations. Since the execution in December 1989 of the dictator Nicole Ceausescu, people have been repeatedly disappointed by justice ministers who promised to combat corruption but delivered little, neither curbing the practice of bribes nor bringing corruption charges against politicians who merited them.
"We are talking about the classical form of corruption," said Macovei. "It is the abuse of public funds to make profit. This spills over into economic crimes because, at the end of the day, a bribe is given for something in return."
She admitted she found it difficult to explain why corruption was so rampant and deep in Romania, a country of 22 million people on the Black Sea.
"Maybe you should ask a psychologist. Perhaps it's a combination of being ruled by the Ottoman Empire and later being under a communist system."
Now, Macovei says, with the change of government in December 2004, immense pressure from the EU to deal with corruption, and wide support from the public, the days when politicians were immune from the law are finally coming to an end.
"In the past, there was a lack of political will to deal with corruption," said Macovei during a late-night interview at her dimly lit but spacious office, tucked away in a giant neoclassical style building in the heart of Bucharest's administrative district.
"There was, for example, political pressure on the prosecutors by politicians not to investigate cases," she said.
Despite the government's commitment to reform the judiciary, Macovei added, it has taken her more than 14 months to introduce crucial legislation that will allow the country's Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office to investigate senior politicians and judges. Only since January have politicians been legally required to make public (on the Internet) their assets and how political parties are financed.
Asked who had been blocking the government's reforms, she said that there had always been "invisible pressure" on the prosecutor's office to drop cases.
"I can't tell you that politician A called the prosecutor's office," she said. "No. The point is that the prosecutor's office would open a case and nothing would happen."
There are "visible obstacles" too. In February, for example, Macovei said, the law to investigate senior politicians and judges was blocked by the opposition Socialist Party in the Senate and obstructed in the lower house by its speaker, Adrian Nastase, the party's former leader. Nastase, a communist official during the Ceausescu era, had run for president in December 2004 but was defeated by the center-right candidate, Traian Basescu.
The law was eventually pushed through after furious protests over the delay from the European Union, the United States, and Macovei herself, who said that any further delay would damage Romania's chances of joining the EU on schedule in January.
The prosecution moved quickly to press charges against Nastase, who allegedly accepted bribes and evaded taxes relating to a legacy from his wife's aunt and a construction project.
This month, he stepped down as speaker and was replaced by Bogdan Olteanu from the governing National Liberal Party.
EU officials say they can see some results.
"The new government is working at dealing with corruption," said Franz- Hermann Brüner, director general of the EU's anti-fraud office. "It is opening investigations and showing results. Things are changing."
Macovei has no illusions about corruption disappearing before January, but says the EU should admit Romania anyway.
"We all know that we will not be ready to implement all the measures," she said. "But we are on an irreversible path. We can prove to the EU member states and the European Commission that we have functioning institutions which can efficiently fight corruption."
As for returning to Sarajevo once the job is done, she said, "My bags are still there."
Vali
An aristocratic title is not enough to ensure a noble behaviour. A person's greatness comes from acknowledging the mistakes and agreeing to correct them.
"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace." (Jimi Hendrix)
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