Electoral authorities on Saturday barred far-right firebrand politician Diana Sosoaca for a second time for standing for president.
Ms Sosoaca, 49, who was banned last year by a top court over her anti-Western stance applied again to run for the top post in the Romanian state in the May rerun.
But the Central Election Bureau said no in a 10-3 vote.
“The rejection of Diana Sosoaca’s candidacy is a fresh blow to Romanian democracy and a serious violation of the fundamental rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution,” the far-right AUR party which supports her said in a statement.
“In a normal democracy, every Romanian has the constitutional right to run for office and be elected. No state institution can take this right without a clear motivation”
“This practice not only undermines the principles of a free society, but risks transforming a democratic system into a controlled and non-transparent one, in which only some can participate.
The Constitutional Court barred her from last year’s race, arguing that her public statements hostile to the European Union and NATO, made her ineligible to uphold Romania’s pro-Atlantic path.
The court’s decision last year drew strong criticism from some civil rights groups and politicians, who said there were no legal grounds to ban her.
The first round is scheduled for May 4 with a runoff on May 18. The deadline for presidential candidates to submit applications is midnight Saturday.
Sosoaca’s bid comes days after the Constitutional Court rejected an appeal by populist Calin Georgescu, who sought to overturn a ban on his candidacy to take part in the redo. The Central Election Bureau refused his candidacy on Sunday.
Romania was plunged into political turmoil after the Constitutional Court canceled the presidential election two days the Dec. 8 runoff following intelligence reports that Russia had mounted a campaign to promote Georgescu. Moscow has denied meddling.
Romania’s decision to cancel the election and ban Georgescu from the race has been criticized by members of Donald Trump’s administration and the Kremlin,
So far, Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan is standing as an independent, while Crin Antonescu, is the joint candidate backed by Romania’s governing coalition.
