Victor Ponta
20 July 2012. A panel of Bucharest University academics said on Friday that Prime Minister Victor Ponta plagiarised much of his 2003 doctoral thesis called ‘International Criminal Court’. Marian Popescu, president of the ethics commission at Bucharest University, which awarded the doctorate said “Elements of plagiarism were identified in the doctoral thesis of Mr Victor Ponta especially in chapters one and three,” Another panel, from Romania’s council for certification of titles, diplomas and university certificates, concluded in late June that Ponta copied a large part of the thesis. Ponta rescinded that council’s legal authority and said that its finding was politically motivated and he would not resign. Ponta has drawn European Union criticism for undermining the rule of law (Please see yesterday’s article – EU Commission criticises state corruption) in a campaign by his Social Liberal Union party to impeach President Traian Basescu through a 29 July 2012 referendum and tighten its grip on power in the corruption-ridden state.
