Supreme Court judges on Tuesday granted the request of REPER representatives to appeal to the Constitutional Court regarding the government’s decision, according to which the local elections were combined with the European Parliament elections.

On March 16, after the creation of the Central Election Bureau, the request of REPER and PMP to have one representative in the BEC was rejected, referring to the provisions of the order on the unification of elections. REPER, led by Dacian Cholos, appealed to the Supreme Court against the protocol establishing the Central Election Bureau, but the appeal was rejected by the judges on Tuesday.

Instead, the High Court of Cassation and Justice granted REPER’s request for referral to the Constitutional Court regarding the government’s emergency order consolidating the elections.

“Accepts the request for referral to the Constitutional Court of Romania, formulated by the party “Renew the European project in Romania” – REPER. Notifies the Constitutional Court of Romania with the exception of the unconstitutionality of the provisions of GEO no. 21/2024, in full,” the High Court of Cassation and Justice ruled.

Emergency Ordinance 21/2024, published on March 8, according to which local elections were combined with elections to the European Parliament, provides for Art. 2 years c) that the BVC includes members proposed by parliamentary political parties and organizations of citizens belonging to national minorities who had their own deputy group in at least one of the chambers of the Parliament on the day of its creation as a result of the elections to the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies in 2020.

In addition, Art. 2 letter d) provides that the members proposed by the political parties and citizens’ organizations belonging to national minorities who won mandates in the 2019 European Parliament elections from Romania will be part of the BEC.

According to some petitions from the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies sent to the BEC by the Permanent Electoral Body, the political parties that had their own parliamentary group and can nominate representatives to the BEC are: PSD, PNL, USR, AUR and UDMR. .

Also, parties that received mandates in the 2019 European Parliament elections: PSD, PNL, USR, AUR, UDMR, Pro Romania and PMP.

On March 15, REPER sent a request to the BEC to register Tiberia Ionuc Petrescu as its representative in the Central Election Bureau. The request was rejected on the grounds that REPER did not receive mandates in the 2019 European Parliament elections.

Currently, REPER has five MEPs, but they were elected in 2019 on the list of the USR-PLUS alliance.

Holding the elections to the European Parliament and local elections on the same date – June 9 – “has numerous advantages and can motivate citizens to go to the polls, ensuring greater representation of Romanian deputies in the European Parliament, strengthening Romania’s position in the European Union,” is the argument, which leads the government to decide to combine the two elections Another reason cited is to reduce costs and the period of elections.

On February 21, the PSD and the PNL agreed to combine European and local elections and joint candidacies in the European Parliament elections. According to PSD and PNL calculations, the presidential elections will be postponed and will take place in September.