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President Klaus Iohannis re-examined the law by which Parliament sets the date for parliamentary elections on Friday. The law has been declared constitutional by the Court, and if the normative act enters into force before December 6, established by the Government for the conduct of the elections, the Parliament may postpone the elections.
In the request for reexamination, the president asserts that if the elections are postponed, the constitutional rights of Romanians in the diaspora, who have already voted by mail, will be violated.
The President assures that all electoral procedures have already begun and mentions that the postponement of the election can only be done if the mandate of the current Parliament is extended, a situation provided for in the Constitution in case of siege, state of mobilization, state of war or state of emergency.
Therefore, at present, there are Romanian citizens for whom the exercise of the right to be elected has already begun and is under way, under the conditions of art. 37 of the Constitution. Given this circumstance, it is clear that any intervention (except in a situation that justifies the legal extension of Parliament’s mandate – state of mobilization, state of war, state of siege or emergency) would have the effect of postponing the date of the elections. for the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies it could constitute an abuse and damage of the electoral rights of Romanian citizens, and especially those of the diaspora, regarding which the procedures are already initiated and are in advanced stages “, it is shown on request for re-examination.
Last, but not least, the president says that the possibility of postponing the elections generates uncertainty about all the procedures carried out so far, “including the situation of reimbursement by the Permanent Electoral Authority of the amounts related to the expenses. made in compliance with art. 28 of Law No. 334/2006 on the financing of the activity of political parties and electoral campaigns, in all constituencies, as well as those carried out at the central level by political parties, political alliances and citizen organizations belonging to national minorities in relation to the elections to the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate ”.
As long as the president can postpone the entry into force of the law
The Constitutional Court published on October 14 the reason for the decision on the constitutionality of the law by which Parliament can set the date of parliamentary elections. Depending on the motivation, the elections can be postponed for 3 months, until March, if Parliament so decides. The CCR also says that once the law enters into force (after its promulgation), the Government Decision by which the Executive sets the date of the elections for December 6 ceases to be in force.
However, for the law to take effect, the president must enact it. Constitutionally, after the request for reexamination, the president is obligated to enact the law.
On schedule, Parliament would reject the president’s request for reconsideration. The procedures (parliamentary committees and voting in both houses of Parliament) will take at least one week, after which the law rejecting the re-examination can be challenged again in court. Following the Court’s ruling, Klaus Iohannis has 10 days to enact the law.
The process can be long, until after December 6, when the elections are held.
Read also Augustin Zegrean: Holding of the parliamentary elections on December 6 – in the hands of President Iohannis
What happens if the law takes effect after the elections?
The President of the Constitutional Court, Valer Dorneanu, recently declared that elections must take place on a date set by Parliament and not by the Government. “If the law is enacted and takes effect before December 6, the elections will not be held. The government’s decision remains invalid,” said Dorneanu.
If it is delayed, and the law will come into force after the elections on the date set by the government, the ICR president said that “illegally held elections may be annulled”, suggesting that the elections will likely be contested in court. and the final decision on the result of the election will correspond to the RCC judges.
