Romania: presidential candidate removed from race
Romania's Constitutional Court has rejected the candidacy of ultra-nationalist politician Diana Șoșoacă in the presidential election to be held on 24 November. On Saturday the court upheld two accusations that the leader of the S.O.S. Romania party had made racist and anti-constitutional statements. She has also been accused of having faked some of the endorsers' signatures that were necessary for her nomination. The national press is sharply critical of the ban.
Not a single clear argument
Deutsche Welle's Romanian service criticises the decision:
“The judges who voted to declare the candidacy invalid have failed to provide a single clear argument. They tried to show how dangerous such a candidacy would be by offering theoretical arguments about the defence of democracy and respect for the constitution. In the opinion of the judges, the politician's statements suffice to prove that she questions the constitution. ... In their rhetoric, the constitutional judges accuse Șoșoacă for her stance on Nato and the EU even though our constitution's references to both institutions are only formal in nature. In reality, the Constitutional Court has no grounds for removing Șoșoacă from the race.”
Dangerous anti-democratic shift
G4Media.ro is incensed:
“The rejection of Diana Șoșoacă's candidacy for president has all the hallmarks of an unprecedented abuse of power. Throwing out a candidate who could have influenced the outcome of the first round of voting marks an extremely dangerous anti-democratic shift. Votes no longer matter, parties and candidates no longer matter, the winner is determined by a power system that can't even be held accountable for its decisions. The Constitutional Court's decision can't be challenged anywhere, and that's another big problem.”