BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) – Romania’s parliament has rejected a request by anti-corruption prosecutors to lift the immunity of the prime minister who is a suspect in a corruption probe.
Lawmakers voted 231-120 on Tuesday against a request by the anti-corruption prosecutors to prosecute Victor Ponta. The premier is suspected of corruption charges, including being an accomplice to tax evasion from 2007 to 2008 while serving in Parliament, a conflict of interest and money laundering.
Ponta earlier told foreign media that he considered resigning after being informed that he was a suspect in a corruption probe, but decided to stay on to ensure political stability.
He said the resignation of his government would cause a “political crisis … of three, four, five months.”
Ponta’s center-left government faces a vote of no-confidence on Friday.