New feud between Basescu and Ponta puts Constitutional Court in the middle

The Government on Tuesday sent the Constitutional Court of Romania (CCR) a notification referring to the President’s right to take part in the election campaign, informs the press office of the Government.

The Government gives as argument the fact that President Traian Basescu “repeatedly, during some public events, voiced support for a certain political party, the attitude of the Head of State materializing both in the direct nomination of the political party he will vote for and in the active popularization of the electoral insignia of this political group, namely the People’s Movement Party”, according to Agerpres.

The President of the Constitutional Court of Romania (CCR) Augustin Zegrean later said that CCR would solve this notification ‘as quickly as the law allows it.’

‘I do not know it yet, how should I know it now? I have not yet seen the file. In this situation of the conflict there are some terms established by our organization law. The term cannot be shorter than 20 days by any means as the law obliges me. (…) We shall solve as usual as quickly as the law and the dock of the Court allows us, which is very busy,’ added Zegrean.

In an interview for Gandul, president Basescu rejected the notion that he violated the Constitution, mentioning that according to Article 84 in the country’s fundamental document, the president is allowed to move in the political environment and “doesn’t just come from the clouds”.

“I’m not going to quote the exact article but the meaning is clear. The president is sustained by a party and remains in contact with that party to promote its program”, Traian Basescu said in an interview, claiming that the only party he supports right now is PMP.

Basescu fought back on Wednesday when referred the Constitutional Court of Romania (CCR) on Tuesday about a constitutional conflict generated by Prime Minister Victor Ponta’s unjustified refusal to countersign presidential decrees concerning the decoration of personalities that have managed the Romanian Cultural Institute (ICR) between 2005 and 2012, including Horia Roman Patapievici.

The president’s referral will be discussed on May 21, as per Zegrean’s announcement.

Ponta reacted to the accusations while at Giurgiu. According to the prime-minister, he cannot in good conscience cosign the decision to decorate people that have expressed anti-Romanian opinions, even “fascist”

“There’s a person there, Mihaies (Mircea Mihaies, vice president for ICR between 2005 and 2012) that is extreme right, an old fascist, I didn’t think that we had neonazis in Europe but look, here’s one in Romania”, Pointa said, quoted by Mediafax.