June 20 (SeeNews) - Moldova's Constitutional Court, CCM, declared the populist opposition pro-Russian Sor party unconstitutional, the country's president Maia Sandu said.
"A political party created out of corruption and for corruption is a danger to the constitutional system and the security of the state. It follows that the state institutions will analyse the grounds for the decision of the Constitutional Court and take the next steps in order to respect and effectively implement this decision," Sandu said in a social media post.
The court ruling was based off Article 41 of Moldova's Constitution, which states that "parties and other socio-political organizations whose goals or activities are directed against political pluralism, the principles of the rule of law, sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of the Republic of Moldova, are unconstitutional," CCM judge Domnica Manole said at a press briefing explaining the decision.
As such, the ruling was based on the party's continuous violations regarding the transparency of their financing, criminal acts committed by the party and its members, and actions and statements which incited violence in order to overthrow or change through violence the constitutional order of Moldova.
"From the date of the pronouncement of this decision, the Sor Political Party is considered dissolved. No act of the bodies of this party, adopted after the pronouncement of this decision, has any legal value," Domnica Manole also said.
The members of parliament from the Sor party will continue their terms of office as independents without having the right to be affiliated to a different party, Constitutional Court president Nicolae Rosca said, as seen in a livestream of Monday's sitting of the country's top court. Also, mayors elected on Sor ticket will complete their mandates as independents.
The Sor party led by businessman and former mayor of Orhei Ilan Sor holds five of 101 seats in Moldova's parliament. The party is known for the frequent rallies against pro-European president Maia Sandu and the Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS), which she founded.