The Constitutional Court of Romania decreed this Friday the annulment of the first round of the presidential elections and, therefore, the obligation to repeat the entire process from the beginning, on a new date that the Government must now put on the table.
The independent candidate Calin Georgescuwith a nationalist and far-right discoursewon on November 24 against the odds in that first round, against the conservative Elena Lasconi. Both were to face each other again at the polls this coming Sunday.
However, the Constitutional Court has ordered “unanimously” back to square oneas stated in a statement in which the court has not detailed the exact reasons it has taken into account. “The decision is final and binding”has stipulated.
Doubts about the process had already led to a recount of the votes cast in the elections, in which Romania’s Supreme Council of National Defense detected attempts at Russian interference. Likewise, the authorities reported that Georgescu had benefited from a covert presence on TikTok, that did not classify him as a candidate.
The ruling must be published in the Official Gazette and the Government is committed to developing a new calendar, with a period of up to three months, according to the public channel TVR.. The term of the current president, Klaus Iohannis, expires on December 21, but there is room for extension if the situation requires it.
Reactions found
Lasconi has criticized the judicial order for understanding that it goes against “the very essence of democracy” and has declared that, “like it or not”more than nine million citizens had already expressed their preferences. “We cannot ignore his will,” she said, in a video message in which she is confident that whether it is Sunday or another day, she will achieve the Presidency.
In this sense, he has pointed out that although “uncontrolled” Russian propaganda is already “a very serious problem”it is necessary to face it after the elections.
For his part, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, third in the first round of the presidential elections – he was eliminated by just 2,000 votes – has defended that the Constitution’s decision is “the only correct solution” in the current context and in the face of “blatant” Russian intervention.
Ciolacu, who has spoken on his Facebook account, has also considered “extremely important” to “quickly” complete the process of forming the new Government, after his Social Democratic Party emerged as the winner of the parliamentary elections held on December 1. The prime minister is betting on a “pro-European” majority.
The shadow of Russia
The head of state of Romania is the one who sets the guidelines in foreign and security policy, which is why Georgescu’s pro-Russian profile worries many of Bucharest’s partners. both in the EU and in NATO.
In an interview this Friday on the BBC, Georgescu denied that he was “the man from Moscow” in these elections, although he does describe the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, as a “patriot” and a “leader.” He also announced that, if he becomes President, military and political aid to Ukraine will be “zero.”
“Everything stops. I have to worry about my people. We already have many problems,” declared Georgescu, also a confessed admirer of leaders such as the Hungarian Viktor Orbán and the American Donald Trump.
The US defends the right to vote “without evil foreign influences”after the Constitutional ruling
Georgescu will appeal
Romanian presidential candidate Calin Georgescu has assured that he will challenge the invalidation of the first round of the elections. “Whoever fights for God and for his nation, nothing defeats him”declared Georgescu, investigated for alleged Russian intervention in the financing of his campaign, in his first statements after learning of the annulment of the first round.
The candidate has confirmed that he was aware of the investigation into him. “My lawyers took it into account and it is clear that we are going to go to the Supreme Court,” he added in statements to the Romanian news channel Realitatea.
Georgescu has also stood up to the rumors that placed him outside Romania in the coming days based on these investigations. “I will not leave the country. I have heard that I am preparing to leave the country and I want to ensure that I do not leave here,” he added.
The first round of the elections, according to a document declassified by the Romanian Presidency, “occurred between cyberattacks with the aim of influencing the correctness of the electoral process” while an “election candidate benefited from massive exposure due to the preferential treatment granted to him by the TikTok platform by not identifying him as a political candidate”, in reference to Georgescu.
The country’s president, Klaus Iohannis, has referred to the investigation as “a very serious case” because Georgescu “has declared zero campaign expenses despite its sophistication” and assured that he has received from the Romanian Intelligence services that “his campaign was supported by a foreign State” in a veiled reference to Russia.
Georgescu has repeatedly denied that his campaign was linked to Moscow although he has always made very favorable statements towards Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin, whom he has described as an exemplary leader.
Iohannis will continue
For his part, the president of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, has assured that he will remain in office during the period of uncertainty opened this Friday after the country’s Constitutional Court invalidated the first round of the presidential elections.
The decision of the Constitutional Court takes place after the opening of an investigation into possible electoral manipulation in favor of the ultranationalist candidate Calin Georgescu and in the absence of declaring a date for the new first round of the elections.
The first round of the elections, according to a document declassified by the Romanian Presidency, “there were cyberattacks with the aim of influencing the correctness of the electoral process” while an “election candidate benefited from massive exposure due to the preferential treatment that the TikTok platform gave him by not identifying him as a political candidate,” in reference to Georgescu.
In his appearance before the population, Iohannis has assured that he will remain in office in compliance with article 83 of the national Constitution, which stipulates that “the President of Romania exercises his mandate until the newly elected President takes the oath.”
“In conclusion, I will remain in office until then and, when the new president is sworn in, I will leave here,” declared the president, whose position expires on December 21but there is room for extension if the situation requires it.
President Iohannis has defended that “Romania is a stable country, a safe country and a solid country“, and assured that he will be involved “until the last day of his mandate” for a democratic, free, modern and safe European Romania.
In words dedicated to his NATO partnersthe president assured that “Romania remains a safe and solid ally before reiterating that, despite what is happening, “Romania is not in difficulty.”
The United States takes “note”
The spokesman for the United States Department of State, Matthew Miller, assured this Friday that the US Executive has “taken note” of the decision of the Romanian Justice to annul the results of the first round of the presidential elections and has demanded for the Romanian population a right to vote free of “malignant” interference from the outside.
“We take note of the ruling of the Romanian Constitutional Court on the Romanian presidential elections,” Miller advanced in a publication on his account on the social network X.
“Free and fair elections are an integral part of democracy and Romanians should be able to exercise their right to vote without malign foreign influences aimed at undermining their democratic will,” he added.
The State Department’s statement comes after the Romanian Constitutional Court “unanimously” decreed this Friday the annulment of the first round of the presidential elections and, therefore, the obligation to repeat the entire process from the beginning, on a new date that the Government must now put on the table.
Housing registration
Romanian security forces Several homes were searched this Saturday in the town of Brasov, in the center of the country, within the framework of an operation in which the alleged illegal financing of “a candidate” of the annulled presidential elections is being investigated, in apparent reference to the nationalist Calin Georgescu.
The Prosecutor’s Office has limited itself to informing in its statement of the possible involvement of a person in the “illegal financing” of a campaign through money suspected of having fraudulent origin. According to public television TVR, the center of this raid is businessman Bogdan Peschir.
The Romanian authorities suspect that Peschir spent more than a million euros to promote Georgescu’s candidacy on TikTok, a social network on which the independent candidate built a dazzling rise in popularity that even led him to prevail against the odds in the first round of the presidential elections.
The second round was scheduled for this Sunday, but the Constitutional Court ruled on Friday the annulment of the first round and ordered that elections be called again, on a date that the Government must now determine. Georgescu, sympathetic to the theses of Russia, had to face the conservative Elena Lasconi.
#Electoral #manipulation #Romania #consequences
