Romania's Constitutional Court (CCR) ruled Wednesday that the law overlapping the 2012 local and general elections is unconstitutional, in reply to a complaint filed by the opposition Social Liberal Union (USL).

The high court resumed Wednesday for the third time the talks around the notification made by the USL by which the opposition condemns the law on holding parliamentary elections in the same day with the local elections.

The complaint was submitted at the CCR on Dec. 22, 2011, soon after the government took responsibility in front of the Parliament for the draft law on holding both local and parliamentary elections in the same day late in 2012.

The centre-right government argued that holding local and parliamentary elections at the same time will make it easier for people to vote and will save the government money.

"We want the elections to be organized at the same date because 2012 is a tough year from an economic point of view," Prime Minister Emil Boc said at that time, stressing that the authorities could save about 20 million euros (26 million U.S. dollars) from the state's budget by merging elections.

Yet, the move was slammed by the opposition. The election merger violates several articles of the Constitution, stressed then leader of social democratic deputies Mircea Dusa.

Romania is to have local elections on this June and general elections at the end of the year.

According to local analysts, the two-week long street demonstrations led, to some extent, to the high court's decision.

Romania's capital city of Bucharest and other major cities have been the scene of anti-government protests for 13 days in a row. The protests, the most serious since President Traian Basescu came to power in 2004, were sparked by the resignation of prestigious public health official Raed Arafat earlier this month in protest against a new healthcare bill.

Eventually, the protests turned against the government's austerity measures and unpopular policies, demanding the government and the president to step down.