MPs may lose seats if 'evading obligations', Constitutional Court rules

The Constitutional Court (CC) today ruled that the mandate of a member of Parliament may be suspended if he or she “evades the obligations of a deputy elected by the people”. At the same time, the CC confirmed the MPs' rights to protest against a legislative proposal or other measures, including by boycotting Parliament's sittings, Info-Prim Neo reports. The ruling came after Liberals Victor Popa and Valeriu Munteanu requested clarifications on whether the mandate of MPs may be terminated unilaterally when they fail to show up for the plenary meetings in Parliament or the meetings of parliamentary commissions. The Liberals' request target in particular the Communist group who, citing the right to boycott, were absent from a great number of parliamentary meetings, which, according to the Liberals, amounted to “evasion of the duty to exercise national sovereignty”. CC Chair Alexandru Tanase stated that the Court's ruling allows Parliament to suspend the mandate of a deputy who fails to fulfill his or her obligations. But it does not allow for a collective suspension of mandates and does not apply to cases when deputies decide to protest by boycotting. The Court also noted that the procedure of withdrawing an MP's mandate should be provided by a specific law. In this respect, Liberal Victor Popa said that a task-force has been created to propose relevant amendments.