Okamura to file complaint with Constitutional Court

Presidential candidate Tomio Okamura, disqualified from running in the upcoming election by a Supreme Administrative Court decision, has said he will file a legal complaint with the Constitutional Court. The senator made clear he would take the step after the Christmas holidays. Mr Okamura has taken issue with the decision, not least over words by one of the justices, Vojtěch Šimička, who said the candidate had the most falsified names on a list of supporters in his candidacy bid. For candidates to register they needed to gather 50,000 signatures to run. Mr Okamura finished below the 50,000 needed, after discrepancies were found. According to the justice, many of the names were written in the same handwriting. Mr Okamura has responded by saying voters’ rights were being trampled on. Another candidate who was rejected, former finance minister Vladimír Dlouhý, meanwhile, has not taken a final decision on his next step.

Author: Jan Velinger