Romanian Constitutional Court

"LandepNews"

Romanian Constitutional Court

Romanian Constitutional Court on Wednesday decided that the law passed by the Romanian parliament on election merger is not constitutional, as hundreds of Romanians continue their protest against the president, the government and the merger of elections for the 13th day, in harsh winter conditions.

The court hasn’t offered yet a motivation of its decision, but sources in the Romanian media speculate that the law was declared unconstitutional in principle, which means, if confirmed, that all its articles, about 300, are null and void.

The petition by the Romanian Constitutional Court was filed by the opposition Social Liberal Union, which was unable to stop the bill in the parliament, as the prime minister assumed governmental responsibility for it.

According to its provisions, the new law would have prolonged the terms of the local authorities from June, when they were to expire, until November, so that the local elections be united with the parliamentary ones.

The Democrat Liberal party, which is ruling the coalition in power, presented as only reason for this decision the expenses of two rounds of elections in a year of crisis.

The opposition parties in turn urged that the merger of elections would serve the purpose of the parties in power, which would rig them. They explained that the merger would confuse the voters, which would be presented with at least six bulletins containing names of the candidates. Consequently, this would slow down the process, and convince many people not to attend the process, which, the opposition claims, would favor the coalition in power.

The opposition also claimed that the prolonging of the terms for the local authorities was not constitutional, since the law demands that in order for this to come to pass the country must be at war or hit by national calamity, which is not the case.

They said that if the mandates get prolonged until late Fall, they would be totally illegitimate, and the decision reached during that time would have no legal base.

The decision of the Constitutional Court, though its motivation is not known yet, was saluted by the opposition, which charged that the government should resign over it, since it had proven its incapacity to propose and pass constitutional laws.

The resignation of the prime minister Emil Boc was expected by the media, but it has not come to pass yet, and there are reasons to think it will not any time soon.

In the evening, the Romanian president Traian Basescu addressed the nation, in a speech that was deemed by analysts as not connected to the situation of the country. The president assumed that there is a huge dissatisfaction among the Romanian people, that the people protesting in the streets have the sympathy of millions of Romanians who are watching them on television.

He spoke of the crisis, of the continuation of reforming the state, and about the need for stability in the country. Asked if he considered that it was necessary to offer a resignation, the president said that it was his duty to see the country through the crisis. He added that he could offer eventually his resignation only if it were the solution for exiting the crisis.

The president did not make any reference to the decision made by the Constitutional Court or to the possibility that the prime minister and his government resign, something the public protesting in the streets demand.

On Tuesday Romanians celebrated one of their national days, marking the union between the Principalities of Moldavia and Walachia, which was the base for the modern Romanian state.

On that occasion, for the first time in seven years, since he has been president, the Romanian president failed to appear before the people in attendance of the ceremony held in the city of Jassy.

The opposition demanded on that occasion that the president and the government resign and that snap elections be called at the earliest convenience. On Monday, the National Liberal Party, which is part of the Social Liberal Union, decided to leave the Romanian parliament, thus making the protest of the people in the streets count.

Members of the opposition believe that by this gesture the European countries that compose the EU would intensify their pressure on the regime along with the one applied by the people in the street, causing the president and the government to resign their offices.

On Monday, the prime minister sacked the foreign minister, while the minister was attending a meeting at the EU headquarters. The replacement was sworn into office on Tuesday night, on which occasion the president lashed out at the opposition leaders and a former president, comparing them with the former president of the Moldavian Republic, the Communist Voronin, removed from office three years ago at the end of a revolution in the capital of that republic.

The opposition charged that the appointment of the new foreign minister was illegal, because it did alter the algorithm for representation of the parties in power in the government, in which case the nomination should have had the vote of the parliament, which it did not.

Meanwhile, the people protest in the streets of the eastern European country, in spite of the harsh conditions caused by the winter. One of their slogans became “the rain and the snow will not deter us.” The people seem determined to take to the streets for as much as it takes in order to have their most important wishes granted.

No violence was recorded over the past week in the protests of the people in the streets of Romania. However, some of the people demand that all the politicians leave power, and a new political class be established.

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