President Basescu calls for talks with political parties over National Integrity Agency

Romanian President Traian Basescu invited parliamentary parties for talks at the Presidency HQ on Monday over the situation caused by a Constitutional Court decision stripping key powers from the National Integrity Agency (ANI) – the main body keeping the wealth of public officials under supervision.

Talks are due to start in the late afternoon and would be attended by representatives of the Liberals, Social Democrats, Conservatives, Democratic Liberals, Hungarian Democrats, national minorities group and the group of independent MPs.

The Constitutional Court on April 14 sparked an outcry by deciding that important provisions of a law on which the activity of ANI – a institution seen as key in the fight against corruption – were unconstitutional. The decision practically stripped ANI of its key power – to check the wealth of public officials.