Interruption of a mandate and filling in the vacancy

(amended by Law No. 74/2012, dated 19 July 2012; words added under point 2 by Law No. 31/2015, dated 2 April 2015; content of article changed by Law No. 101/2020, dated 23 July 2020; and point 5 repealed by Law No. 118/2020, dated 5 October 2020)

1. The mandate of a deputy, won in accordance with Articles 162 and 163 of this law, may be interrupted only for the reasons provided for in Article 71 of the Constitution. Preliminary individual or collective agreements or declarations to withdraw from a seat shall not constitute reasons for the interruption of the mandate. In case of letters “a” and “b” of point 2 of Article 71 of the Constitution, the deputy shall declare publicly, in front of the respective Assembly committee, his/her refusal to take the oath or his/her withdrawal from the mandate. In this case, the Assembly shall notify the CEC of the creation of the vacancy no later than 30 days.

2. The interrupted mandate of a deputy or of a member of the municipal council shall be transferred to the next candidate on the list of the same political party in the respective electoral zone, except when the filling of the vacancy with the next candidate on the list reduces the representation of the under-represented gender. In this case, the vacancy shall be filled with the first candidate on the list belonging to the underrepresented gender, regardless of the ranking in the list. The other names belonging to that gender go up in the list taking the ranking of the preceding candidate of the same gender. This rule shall not apply when the names of the respective gender are exhausted.

3. The CEC shall take a decision to fill the vacancy in the Assembly. The decision shall be notified to the candidate and published on the Official Journal. If the next candidate in line fails to appear before the Assembly within 30 days from the notification, without legitimate reasons, the mandate shall pass to the next candidate on the list, in accordance with the procedure specified in point 2 of this Article. The same procedure shall apply until the exhaustion of the list of candidates of the same political party.

4. The CEC shall take a decision to fill the vacancy in the municipal council. The decision shall be notified to the candidate. If the next candidate in line fails to appear before the municipal council within 30 days from notice, without legitimate reasons, the mandate shall pass to the next candidate in line according to the procedure set out in point 2 of this Article.

5. Repealed.