Internal Affairs Minister Carmen Dan stands her ground, says she will not resign

Anca Alexe 12/01/2018 | 14:21

Carmen Dan, the Minister of Internal Affairs, did not respond well to PM Mihai Tudose’s suggestion that she resign from her role as a result of the scandal caused by the police officer accused of sexual assault against minors whose previous similar crimes turned out to have been covered up by his colleagues and superiors.

Carmen Dan asked for a resignation from the Chief of Police Bogdan Despescu at the beginning of the week, as she believed that he should have known about the fact that the man accused of paedophilia was in fact a police officer, and should have had a different reaction to the case.

At the time, PM Tudose said that Carmen Dan told him that another member of the police force, Catalin Ionita, would take over the role of Chief, but that soon after that Ionita told him he didn’t want the job. This led to the PM calling minister Dan a liar, and saying that he wouldn’t be able to work with her anymore.

On Thursday night, Carmen Dan held a press conference where she presented a document signed by Catalin Ionita, saying that he agrees to take over the role of Chief of Romanian Police for a period of six months, contradicting Tudose’s statement that Ionita didn’t want the job. She explained that Ionita probably changed his mind over the days as he felt under pressure, but that she rejects the PM’s accusations of her lying about his intentions.

Regarding her resignation, the minister said that the government is political, and ministers are nominated and validated in the party’s internal forums, and that’s also where decisions about their dismissals are made.