(Bloomberg) -- Romania’s parliament approved part of a controversial judicial-reform package that’s been criticized as another attempt by the ruling coalition to weaken punishment for convicted officials.

Lawmakers voted 175-78 in favor of the changes to the code of criminal procedure, according to Deputy Speaker Gabriel Vlase. One amendment may allow Social Democrat boss Liviu Dragnea to appeal a conviction for vote-rigging. President Klaus Iohannis, who’s frequently fallen out with the government, must still sign off on the bill before it takes effect.

Social Democrat lawmaker Florin Iordache told parliament that the changes are necessary to avoid officials being unfairly targeted. “We’re doing this because we want to stop abuses in the judiciary,” he said. “We’ve seen many people doing the ‘perp walk’ and then these people were proven innocent.”

Attempts last year to curb an unprecedented crackdown on corruption in one of the European Union’s poorest countries triggered the biggest protests since the fall of communism, prompting warnings from officials in Brussels and Washington over democratic backsliding. Dragnea, whose conviction bars him from holding a government job, is also awaiting a first verdict in another trial. That’s due on June 21.

The opposition said some of Monday’s amendments will restrict prosecutors’ scope to investigate suspected wrongdoing and benefit convicts and felons. The opposition plans to challenge the changes -- which include banning the publication of information from ongoing criminal trials and raising the bar for convictions -- in the Constitutional Court.

To contact the reporter on this story: Irina Vilcu in Bucharest at isavu@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Scott Rose at rrose10@bloomberg.net, Andrew Langley

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