Freshly appointed by Parliament as constitutional judge, the former Socialist MP Vladimir Turcan has been promoted today to chairman of the Constitutional Court, IPN reports.

The chairman is elected by secret vote by a majority of the constitutional judges. Liuba Șova has been elected as a caretaker for when Turcan needs to be away.

Eduard Ababei and Sergei Turcan were appointed as constitutional judges by the High Council of the Judiciary on July 30. Liuba Șova and Nicolae Roșca were appointed to the position by the Government on August 15, and Domnica Manole and Vladimir Turcan were appointed to the post by Parliament on August 16.

After the appointment by Parliament of the last two constitutional judges, several NGOs issued a statement expressing their "deep concern about the non-transparent way in which the Parliament appointed the two judges to the Constitutional Court". In their statement, the NGOs say that "such a way of appointing, without explaining the reasons for cancelling the results of the previously organized contest, based on political criteria, denotes a lack of consideration for this institution and further undermines public confidence in the independence of the High Court".