The REPER party announced, on Tuesday, challenging in court the normative act for merging elections, in order to block the application of these norms, which they consider unconstitutional.
The legal proceedings are coordinated by REPER MPs Andrei Lupu and Oana Cambera, who claim that the recourse to the Ombudsman, used so far by other parties to challenge the constitutionality of the ordinance regarding the merging of elections, does not guarantee a quick and efficient response, given the lack of success of previous similar approaches.
The actions initiated by REPER aim to use direct legal channels to stop the process of merging elections, by requesting the suspension and annulment of the emergency ordinance.
As part of the exception of unconstitutionality, REPER invokes the limitation of the exercise of fundamental rights, such as the right to choose and to be elected, through an emergency ordinance and not through a law adopted by Parliament, contrary to the provisions of Article 53 of the Constitution and the clarifications brought by the Constitutional Court by Decision no. 55/2020.
It also invokes the violation of the recommendations of the Venice Commission, under the conditions in which there is jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court which stipulates that the electoral legislation must be interpreted through the scope of the recommendations of this body, specify the representatives of REPER.
The approach of the REPER party to go directly to court, contesting the decision to merge the elections, represents a response to the failure of previous appeals to the Ombudsman to refer the matter to the Constitutional Court. This "urgent legal action" comes after, at the end of February REPER MPs Andrei Lupu and Oana Cambera made an official appeal to the Ombudsman to contest the constitutionality of the ordinance.
On March 8, the Government adopted an emergency ordinance that provides for the merging of the European parliamentary and local elections, setting the date of June 9, 2024 for both types of elections. On March 9, the Government also adopted a decision for the organization of the elections, "just a few hours before the deadline stipulated by the legislation in force", REPER representatives remind.