Clotilde Armand's conviction ignites PSD-USR dispute: duplicity accusations
The PSD attacks the USR following Clotilde Armand's conviction to one year's imprisonment, citing an internal party resolution regarding the exclusion of criminally convicted members.
PSD invokes USR resolution from 2024 following Clotilde Armand's conviction
Sector 1 Court convicted Clotilde Armand, the former mayor of Sector 1 and USR leader, on Monday to one year's imprisonment with the execution of the sentence suspended, for using her position to favour certain individuals, in a continuous form — four material acts. The decision is not final.
According to Jurnalul.ro, the conviction immediately triggered an attack from the PSD, which issued a statement on Monday evening accusing the USR of "duplicity" and "profound moral crisis".
The resolution that was not applied
The PSD reminds that, in the 2024 presidential election campaign, the USR National Bureau unanimously adopted a resolution concerning criminally convicted members. The text cited by the social democrats provides that "any USR member who is criminally convicted of an offence committed with intent, in the first instance, will be excluded from the party if they do not resign from the USR".
The social democrats contend that this rule was not applied in the Armand case. "No one from USR leadership has ordered the application of the 2024 resolution and exclusion from the party", the PSD statement states. The party notes that Armand declared she would continue her political activities in the USR, on the grounds that the prison sentence is not to be served immediately.
Accusations of hypocrisy towards other parties
The PSD accuses the USR of, in previous years, calling on politicians from other parties to withdraw from public life before their legal situations were definitively resolved — invoking, in that context, strict moral standards. "For years, the USR has trampled on the constitutional presumption of innocence, aggressively demanding that politicians from other parties step back, long before being tried or definitively convicted", the statement states.
The PSD statement concludes with a direct attack on USR leadership, which it accuses of "shielding criminals and the convicted from their party and blindly attacking Justice, the courts and the rule of law in Romania".
The case background
The case against Clotilde Armand originated from a referral by the National Integrity Agency (ANI). Integrity inspectors found that Armand appointed herself as manager of an anti-corruption project financed from European funds and signed orders by which she increased her own monthly allowance by up to 30 per cent.
The conviction remains subject to appeal, with the final decision to be made by a higher court.
Source: Jurnalul.ro