The decision by the Central Court of Appeals to dissolve the four political parties is based on a legal mechanism introduced after the “Sor” Party was declared unconstitutional in 2023. Polina Panainte, deputy director of ADEPT and secretary of the Civic Coalition for Free and Fair Elections, explained to IPN that this mechanism aims to prevent a party declared unconstitutional from continuing its activities under a different name.

According to the expert, the law stipulates that if a court finds that there is a political succession between a party declared unconstitutional and another political party, the Ministry of Justice is required to request the dissolution of the latter. The expert argues that this mechanism is not a law enacted against specific parties, but rather a generally applicable instrument introduced into the Law on Political Parties.

“The succession mechanism was created precisely to prevent a party that has been declared unconstitutional from reemerging under a different legal form”, Polina Panainte explained.

According to her, the Venice Commission did not examine any specific party, nor did it examine the case of the “Sor” Party, but it did state that restricting the activities of a political party can be justified only in exceptional circumstances, provided that clear safeguards are in place and the necessity of such a measure is demonstrated.

Polina Panainte emphasized that the dissolution of a successor party cannot be ordered automatically, but requires a case-by-case analysis and concrete evidence of the existence of a political succession.

In this case, the Court of Appeals examined the criteria set forth by law for establishing such a connection. Among the factors considered by the court was the congress held in Moscow on July 6, 2025, where the leaders of the four political parties announced the formation of the “Victorie – Победа” political bloc, in the presence of Ilan Shor, who had been convicted in the bank fraud case.

On Wednesday, the Central Court of Appeals ordered the dissolution of the “Sansa,” “Renastere,” “Victorie,” and “Forta de Alternativa si Salvare a Moldovei” parties, finding that they are successors to the “Sor” Party, which was declared unconstitutional in 2023. For now, the court has published only the operative parts of the rulings, without the full reasoning behind them. The decisions may be appealed under the conditions provided by law.