Tens of thousands of Romanians demonstrated in Bucharest on Jan. 12 against last month’s controversial annulment of the first-round results of a presidential poll led by independent candidate Calin Georgescu.
“We are protesting against the coup d’état that took place on Dec. 6,” George Simion, leader of the right-leaning Alliance for the Unity of Romanians, told reporters at the protest.
On Dec. 6, 2024, Romania’s Constitutional Court annulled the first-round results of a presidential poll in which independent candidate Georgescu unexpectedly emerged as the front-runner.
“We demand a return to democracy through the resumption of elections, starting with the [canceled] second round,” Simion, whose party organized the demonstration, said. “We are sorry to discover so late that we were living in a lie and that we were led by people who claimed to be democrats, but are not at all.”
Demonstrators in the Romanian capital honked their horns and held banners aloft that read “We want free elections” and “Democracy is not optional.”
With many waving Romanian national flags, they demanded that the poll results be reinstated to allow a runoff vote—originally slated for Dec. 8—to be held.
Political outsider Georgescu won almost 23 percent of the Nov. 24 first-round vote.
His strong showing at the ballot box defied earlier surveys suggesting that his popular support stood at less than 10 percent.
Elena Lasconi of the Save Romania Union, a centrist political party, came in a close second, winning a little more than 19 percent of the vote.
Two days before a scheduled Dec. 8 runoff election, Romania’s Constitutional Court—in an unprecedented move—annulled the first-round results.
The court cited alleged poll violations and Russian interference in the electoral process to justify its decision.
Georgescu has been a vocal critic of unqualified Western support for Ukraine against Russia’s ongoing invasion of that country.
He is also a critic of the NATO alliance, which Romania joined in 2004.
Romanian authorities further accused Georgescu’s electoral campaign of illegally using digital technologies and relying on “undeclared sources” of funding.
In the run-up to the election, Georgescu’s campaign relied on the TikTok video-sharing platform to get its message across to Romanian voters.
After the first-round results were annulled, the Romanian authorities alleged that Georgescu had received preferential treatment by the Chinese-owned platform at the expense of other candidates.
Georgescu denies the claims and has since lodged an appeal against the court’s decision, which has polarized Romania’s voting public.
He has also filed a formal complaint with the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights.
Moscow has denied allegations that it interfered in Romania’s electoral process.
Last week, Romania’s ruling coalition announced plans to hold a fresh first-round vote on May 4.
If none of the candidates wins an outright majority, this will be followed by a runoff election two weeks later.
It remains unclear until now whether Georgescu, 62, will be permitted to take part in the fresh round of elections.
Romania’s outgoing president, Klaus Iohannis, whose term officially ended on Dec. 21, 2024, is now set to remain in office until a successor can be elected.
The Jan. 12 demonstration in support of Georgescu was preceded by a similar—albeit smaller—protest two days earlier, also held in Bucharest.
That rally was attended by thousands of Georgescu’s supporters, who staged demonstrations outside Romania’s Constitutional Court.
“We want to vote,” demonstrators chanted. “Bring back the second round.”
On the same day as last week’s protest, Georgescu’s lawyer filed an official request for the Constitutional Court to reinstate the annulled first-round poll results.
