Since coming to power in late 2016, the Social Democrats (PSD) have steadily chipped away at the independence of the judiciary, raising sharp criticism from the European Union and triggering Romania’s largest street protests in decades. On Sunday, voters overwhelmingly backed a referendum called by centrist President Klaus Iohannis to prevent Dragnea’s party from further weakening the courts. With Romania’s most powerful man jailed, the party will be led in the interim by his protege Prime Minister Viorica Dancila.
