The Court of Appeal in Ploiesti, Prahova County (CAP) issued on Thursday, April 24, a provisory yet enforceable ruling to annul the decision of the Constitutional Court (CCR) to scrap the presidential elections of December 2024, according to G4media.ro. The court thus admitted the request filed by a natural person, Gheorghiţa Popescu.
The ruling can be appealed to the High Court (ICCJ), and the Prahova County Prosecutors Office has already challenged it.
Experts, including the justice minister, argued against CAP's ruling, adding that it will have no impact on the presidential ballot rerun, while judge Alexandru Vasile, who issued the ruling, can come under disciplinary scrutiny.
On the other hand, the leader of the far-right party AUR, George Simion, and other supporters of the pro-Russian isolationist politician Calin Georgescu, who won the first run of the canceled elections last year, applauded the decision and reiterated calls for resuming the presidential elections with the second round instead of the planned rerun ballot scheduled for May 4/18.
The minister of justice, Radu Marinescu, told B1 TV that "the elections will continue to be organized and that there exists no administrative litigation procedure in Romania to challenge the rulings of the Constitutional Court, which are not administrative acts according to the legislation," G4media.ro reported.
"It is an unprecedented decision in Romania (...) We do not have a suspension or a deadlock of the electoral process at the moment," the minister of justice told Antena 3.
According to Hotnews.ro, over 130 requests to annul or suspend the CCR decision to cancel the 2024 presidential elections were registered with the courts of appeal in Romania between April 8-17, in what seems to be an organized move. Most judges rejected the requests, except for the judge at the Court of Appeal in Ploiesti. The case is still pending in some other courts.
The pro-Russian isolationist candidate Calin Georgescu won the first round of the 2024 presidential elections despite previous polls indicating modest support for him. TikTok officials later admitted massive campaigns linked to accounts based on email accounts hosted by servers in Russia in favor of Georgescu. The former candidate was banned from attending the rerun elections this May amid investigations related to his deeds, including incitement against constitutional order and illegal financing.
AUR leader George Simion, with implicit support from Calin Georgescu, is the frontrunner for the May elections - but polls indicate he might lose the second ballot without more substantial, explicit support from Georgescu.
Romania holds presidential elections on May 4, followed by a run-off on May 18.
iulian@romania-insider.com
(Photo source: Inquam Photos/Alexandru Busca)
