One would-be Romanian president is a plagiarist. But will voters care?
Published in Times Higher Education
February 28, 2025
By: Ararat Osipian
Victor Ponta quit as prime minister amid scandals including a renounced doctorate. Should he be allowed to run for president, asks Ararat Osipian
When the US has elected a convicted felon accused of numerous other serious crimes and found liable for what is commonly understood as rape, the idea that plagiarism should disqualify a candidate may seem a little quaint.
Moreover, it is revealing that in the torrent of abuse that Donald Trump routinely hurls at “crooked” Joe Biden, the 1987 allegations that his predecessor plagiarised a law review article for a term paper he wrote at law school has never featured – even though it played a big role in derailing his first bid to be US president (Biden said he had misunderstood citation rules).
Back in the Old World, Romania’s former prime minister, Victor Ponta, certainly doesn’t think that his much more lurid history of academic fraud should preclude him from running in his country’s presidential election in May.