Former Minister of Justice and Constitutional Court judge Tudorel Toader argues that Călin Georgescu should be able to run in the upcoming presidential elections in Romania.
„In the absence of any actions attributable to Călin Georgescu, he should be able to run, and Romanians should be able to vote.
We all know that phrase written in many decisions of the Constitutional Court, which says: the essence of democracy is that the minority expresses itself and the majority decides. Therefore, the people will have the president they want on the one hand, and the one they deserve on the other.
Let's not forget something. The fact that during the campaign, all kinds of statements and promises are made, which are for capturing attention, to attract the voter. Many of these statements do not fall within the president's competencies. And whoever is elected will move away from electoral rhetoric and will enter the constraints, let's say, of the dignity of the president, which is half of the executive power, in loyal collaboration with all the others, but cannot exceed their competencies to engage in a legal conflict of a constitutional nature, as we have seen in the past," stated Tudorel Toader on Tuesday evening on Antena3.
When asked if the precedent of Diana Șoșoacă could be repeated, he stated that Călin Georgescu has passed through the filter of the Constitutional Court, has passed through the Central Electoral Bureau (BEC), and no such actions have been attributed to him.
"The decision regarding Șoșoacă, with full name, referred to the individual, the decision to annul the elections referred to the electoral process, to violations of the presidential election procedure.
But I believe he has moved past that moment and will be judged, in quotation marks, based on the facts, whether they are proven or not, which led to the annulment of the elections.
Here is the key. The elections were annulled. Let's see why, who influenced the will of the voter, who violated the electoral procedures. And from this perspective, I believe he will be able to or should be able to run," mentioned the former Minister of Justice.
Regarding the interviewer's remark that any actions or evidence should be definitively validated by a court, Tudorel Toader replied: "Yes, if we are talking about criminal actions.
If they are criminal actions, the court does not have time to definitively settle them, to establish them. (...) Of course, (there may be other actions that are not criminal and that can be considered by the Constitutional Court).
There are misdemeanors, manipulations, influences on the voter's will, which do not have a criminal content. That the entire electoral procedure cannot be tainted solely by criminal actions."