Romania's Georgescu protests cancelled vote outside polling station

Romania’s defiant far-right presidential candidate, Călin Georgescu, stood outside a closed polling station on Sunday in protest of the country’s top court’s unprecedented decision to annul the first round of the vote in which he emerged as the frontrunner.

The Constitutional Court cancelled the election on Friday after a trove of declassified intelligence alleged Russia organised a sprawling campaign across social media to promote Georgescu.

“Today is Constitution Day and there is nothing constitutional in Romania anymore. I am here in the name of democracy,” Georgescu told media in Mogosoaia, outside Bucharest.

“By cancelling democracy, our very freedom is cancelled.”

The court cited the illegal use of digital technologies including artificial intelligence, as well as undeclared sources of funding. Without naming Georgescu, the court said one candidate received “preferential treatment” on social media platforms, distorting voters’ expressed will.

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said in a statement marking Constitution Day on Sunday that “We find ourselves in a moment of profound responsibility toward the values that characterise us as a nation.”

“The Romanian Constitution defines the framework within which the state and political life operate, serving as a shield against threats to democracy,” he said.

“In turbulent times, state institutions are called upon to act with calm, wisdom and respect for the law, the Constitution and democracy.”

George Simion, the 38-year-old leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians, told reporters outside a closed polling station in Bucharest on Sunday that the annulment amounted to an attack against democracy, saying Iohannis should “take a step back and respect the Constitution, not mock it.”

‘TikTok Messiah’

After Georgescu unexpectedly topped the polls in the first round, his success left many political observers wondering how most local surveys had placed him behind at least five other candidates before the vote.

Many observers attributed his success to his TikTok account, which now has 6.2 million likes and 565,000 followers. But some experts suspected Georgescu’s online following was artificially inflated, while Romania’s top security body alleged he was given preferential treatment by TikTok over other candidates.

Despite being a huge outsider who declared zero campaign spending, Georgescu topped the polls in the first round on 24 November, and was due on Sunday to face reformist Elena Lasconi of the Save Romania Union party in a runoff.

On Friday, Lasconi also strongly condemned the court’s decision to annul the elections, saying it was “illegal, immoral, and crushes the very essence of democracy” and that the second round should have gone forward.

New dates will be set to rerun the presidential vote from scratch.