Romania's anulled vote: quiet criticism from Council of Europe
The Council of Europe's Venice Commission has indirectly issued a warning to Romania following the annulment of its 2024 presidential election. Although the Commission says it does not consider itself responsible for examining this specific case, it recommends that elections only be annulled on the basis of clear, transparent and publicly accessible evidence, and that affected parties be given the opportunity to present their own points of view.
Political will lacking
Spotmedia is in favour of reforming the Constitutional Court:
“Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu announced these reforms after the Constitutional Court's decision against [right-wing nationalist candidate Diana] Șoșoacă, but they have not been put into effect. We will see to what extent the recommendations of the Venice Commission will motivate him. The Commission's report also doesn't affect the cancellation of the December elections, but may have an impact on the election rerun on 4 May. In theory, the legislature could make the necessary changes by then. However it is unlikely that this will happen, bearing in mind the lack of political will.”
The right decision under time pressure
Adevărul defends the move to annul the elections:
“The arguments of the Venice Commission are sound, but not in an atypical situation such as the one we had with the presidential elections in November 2024. The secret services, public prosecutors and judges need time, sometimes even years, to arrive at legal assessments. ... But we had just two days to stop a candidate who has become even more vocal since the election was annulled, which confirms that the Romanian Constitutional Court's decision was the right one. Otherwise, without this annulment, we would now have a pro-Russian, anti-EU and anti-Nato president who repeatedly attacks the constitution and the rule of law, although the role of a president is first and foremost to defend these two things.”