Romanians protest cancellation of presidential race

Tens of thousands of demonstrators marched through Romania’s capital, Bucharest, on Sunday to protest the Constitutional Court’s decision last month to order that the presidential election be re-run.

They demanded that the vote take place and that outgoing centrist President Klaus Iohannis resign immediately.

“We demand a return to democracy through the resumption of elections, starting with the second round,” George Simion of the right-wing Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), said.

Why did Romania’s top court cancel the first round?

The Constitutional Court initially declared the first round outcome as legal, only to surprisingly annul it two days before the runoff was due to take place on December 8.

It came after far-right populist Calin Georgescu became the surprise front-runner due to a social media campaign attributed to Russia. Georgescu denied Russia supported his campaign.

The ruling was based on declassified intelligence alleging “aggressive hybrid Russian attacks,” saying there were coordinated campaigns on influential accounts on TikTok and Telegram to promote Georgescu.

Georgescu, an independent candidate who declared zero campaign spending, was polling in single digits soon before the election but surged to just under 23% of the vote ahead of second-placed centrist Elena Lasconi, who had 19%.

When is the re-run of the presidential election?

The court ordered a re-run of the two-round presidential election in its entirety.

Party leaders agreed to hold the first round on May 4 and a runoff two weeks later on May 18.

It is not clear whether Georgescu will be allowed to run in the new election.

Iohannis, whose term expired on December 21, will stay on the job until his successor is elected.

ess/lo (Reuters, AP)