Romania’s top constitutional court has taken the inflammatory decision to annul the country’s presidential vote, after the security services warned that Russia had carried out an “aggressive hybrid action” to influence the electoral process.
Ultranationalist independent presidential contender Călin Georgescu came from nowhere two weeks ago to win the first round of the election. But he benefited from a TikTok campaign that was similar to influence operations run by the Kremlin in Ukraine and Moldova, according to declassified Romanian intelligence documents.
On Friday, after receiving multiple requests, the court said in a statement that it “annuls the entire electoral process regarding the election of the president of Romania.”
The second round runoff was due to be held on Sunday. That will now not take place, the statement said.
The decision will be highly controversial as politicians from both the far right as well as liberal reformists view an annulment as an attempt by the widely distrusted old establishment parties — the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the center-right National Liberal Party (PNL) — to hold on to power by pulling strings within the judiciary.
Elena Lasconi, a liberal former TV journalist who was set to stand against Georgescu in the second round, was mortified by what she saw as a hijacking of the electoral process.
“Today is the moment when the Romanian state trampled over democracy. God, the Romanian people, the truth and the law will prevail and will punish those who are guilty of destroying our democracy,” she said immediately after the annulment.
The Romanian government will now need to draw up a timeline for fresh elections, the court said.
Without precedent
Nicolae Ciucă, the head of the Romanian senate and the National Liberal Party’s presidential candidate in the first round called for “calm, unity and maturity” and said he supported all necessary efforts to clarify any suspicions and to guarantee a fair election.
The decision to cancel the vote was “without precedent in Romania’s democratic history,” he said, adding “the current situation is a difficult test for our democratic institutions.”
The unexpected ruling risks destabilizing Romania, a strategically important NATO member of 19 million people on the eastern edge of the European Union.
The shock win for Georgescu in the first round on Nov. 24 triggered widespread dismay among pro-Western centrists, and sparked demonstrations in central Bucharest. On Thursday night, thousands of pro-Europeans turned out to voice their support for maintaining the country’s international alliances.
Georgescu’s fiery criticism of NATO and the EU — and his threat to end all assistance for Ukraine — stoked fears that Romania was on the brink of turning away from the West toward Moscow.
‘Coup d’état’
The court’s decision follows dramatic revelations of alleged foreign influence on the contest. Earlier this week, the Romanian government declassified intelligence files that strongly suggested to a Russian-backed campaign to corrupt the election.
The documents said 25,000 pro-Georgescu accounts on social media app TikTok burst into action just two weeks before the first-round vote.
The risk now is that the court’s decision leaves millions of Georgescu’s supporters feeling angry and disenfranchised.
“Shame!!! Coup d’état in full swing,” said George Simion, far-right AUR party leader who was backing Georgescu in the second round. He urged his supporters not to demonstrate in the streets against the court’s decision: “We are not taking to the streets, we will not be provoked. This system must fall democratically!”
Current Social Democrat Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, who also stood as a presidential candidate, said the ruling was “the only fair solution” after the documents revealed the scale of the alleged interference operation. “The Romanians’ vote was blatantly distorted as a result of Russia’s intervention,” he said. “The presidential elections must be rerun.”
The court’s decision throws the government of Romania into complete confusion.
Nearly 48,000 Romanians abroad already voted in the second round of the presidential election. Romanians abroad had three days to vote, unlike those at home, who could only vote Sunday. Polls abroad opened Friday at noon local time, before the court canceled the first round and ordered the whole presidential election be redone.
Parliamentary elections held last week delivered a split result and a four-party coalition.
The term of the current President is due to end on Dec. 21.
The next president’s first job was due to have been to appoint a new prime minister. But there will now be weeks or maybe months of delays before the long term government can be confirmed.
And it’s not clear yet who will hold the office of the presidency while the mess is sorted out.
Politico
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