Does Senate election law violate Constitution? Court to rule on June 18

The Constitutional Court on Wednesday reviewed two petitions from six senatorial candidates, passed on by the Central Administrative Court. The nine judges agreed that they had enough evidence and information to interpret the legal issues of the case.

On June 5, the court had resolved to accept the two petitions for judicial review in one case.

The six candidates alleged that Articles 36, 40, 41 and 43 of the organic law contradicted Article 107 of the Constitution.
The six candidates have raised two legal issues.

Firstly, the petitioners argued that Articles 40, 41 and 42 of the organic law contradicted Article 107, because they allowed candidates to vote among themselves. They pointed out that Article 107 wanted people from different professions to elect one another to prevent interference by politicians in a Senate election, but the fact that candidates could vote for themselves would not prevent such political interference.

Secondly, the petitioners are opposed to Article 36, which allows senatorial candidates to be helped by others to introduce themselves to other candidates. This clause, they said, would allow rich candidates to campaign via the internet or other electronic media, while poorer candidates would not enjoy such advantages.

The Senate election at the district level was held on Sunday and it would be held at the provincial level on June 16 and at the national level on June 26.