The Constitutional Court of Romania published, on Monday evening, the decision regarding the rejection of Diana Iovanovici-Şoşoacă’s candidacy for the position of President of Romania.
According to the document, the registration of this candidacy violates some eligibility conditions, with reference to “the values of democracy, the rule of law, respect for the Constitution correlated with their politico-military guarantee, respectively Romania’s membership in the EU and NATO”.
“The Court notes, based on the acts and facts described by the appellants and outlined in paragraphs 7-14 and 22 of this decision, that the registration of Mrs. Diana Iovanovici Șoșoacă’s candidacy for the 2024 Romanian Presidential elections violates the eligibility conditions provided by the constitutional provisions of Article 1 (3) and (5), Article 82 (2), in conjunction with Articles 148 and 149, referring to the values of democracy, the rule of law, respect for the Constitution, and the political-military guarantees of these, namely Romania’s membership in the EU and NATO. Therefore, the Court will uphold the appeals and annul the Central Electoral Bureau’s Decision no. 18/D from October 3, 2024,” the document states. According to the CCR, “the right to be elected is a fundamental political right, representing a sine qua non condition of democracy and the democratic functioning of the state, and it is exercised in compliance with the requirements of the Constitution and laws. The right to be elected is not absolute and may be subject to limitations, as configured by the democratic vision of the Constitution.”
“Even though the oath of allegiance is taken by the winning candidate, the elements contained in the oath of allegiance are eligibility and substantive conditions for candidacy for the office of President of Romania, which the candidate must meet at the time of submitting their candidacy. The examination of these conditions can only be carried out by the Constitutional Court. It would be inadmissible and contrary to the nature of the democratic process for a candidate who does not meet these conditions ab initio to participate in the elections, and if they win, to take a formal oath of allegiance,” argues the Constitutional Court.
“It is well-known that, through her constant speech, Mrs. Diana Iovanovici Sosoacă urges to change the democratic foundations of the state and to violate the constitutional order,” the document states. “Democratic rules apply to all citizens, regardless of their status in the state and political options, and anarchic demonstrations and slippages in the public space cannot be tolerated. Such behavior brings into discussion the problem of using constitutional institutions and procedures for the purpose of ultimately denying constitutionally regulated demands, principles and values. Public statements, taking positions and expressing convictions that contradict the constitutional values and the demands of a democratic society, combined with the participation in certain public events are sufficient grounds to indicate that Mrs. Diana Iovanovici-Şoşoacă, as a candidate for the position of President of Romania, questions and disregards the obligation to respect the Constitution through his public speech regarding the removal of essential guarantees of the fundamental values and options of the state, namely the status of a member state of the EU and NATO. Therefore, it is obvious that respect for the Constitution and the defense of democracy – conditions for running for the position of President of Romania – are aspects foreign to the public discourse promoted by it”, adds CCR.
At the meeting where it was decided to reject Diana Şoşoacă’s candidacy, Marian Enache – CCR president and judges Mihaela Ciochină, Cristian Deliorga, Dimitrie-Bogdan Licu, Laura-Iuliana Scântei, Gheorghe Stan, Attila Varga were present. Scântei formulated a separate opinion. Livia Stanciu and Elena Simina Tănăsescu, both appointed by President Iohannis, were absent from the meeting.
Diana Șoșoacă’s candidacy for the 2024 presidential elections was contested at the Constitutional Court by both Mihai Gheorghe Ursa and Amalia Bellantoni, the latter being a former party fellow of Sosoaca.
The contestants accused Sosoaca of submitting signatures as belonging to different persons contain elements of obvious similarity, and some of these are photocopies.
Sosoaca is also accused for hre presence at the Russian Embassy and for the statement “Romania is not a state of law. Dictatorship was established in Romania. Well, there is a thousand times more democracy in Russia than in Romania. And in China there is democracy!”.
The opponents also mentioned the scandal regarding the assault and deprivation of liberty of Rai Uno journalists and the fact that, during the pandemic, Diana Şoşoacă publicly incited the population to riot in a manner unworthy of a presidential candidate and issued threats to the national security of the Romanian state, suggesting that he can provide information likely to destabilize NATO and the European Union.
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