Dramatic twist! The Romanian Constitutional Court canceled the presidential election this Friday, December 6, two days before the second round, the latest twist in a chaotic process troubled by suspicions of Russian interference in favor of the far-right candidate.
The court decided to “cancel the entire” vote in order to “ensure its validity and legality” and asked that “the entire electoral process” starts again, according to a press release which plunged the country from Eastern Europe in shock. “The government will set a new date” later, said the Court, which had nevertheless validated the results earlier in the week after a recount of the votes from the first round which concluded that there was no fraud.
Russia in the viewfinder
But in the meantime authorities have declassified intelligence documents supporting accusations of TikTok’s “massive” role in the campaign, with Russia in the sights. In the first round, the nationalist candidate Calin Georgescu came out on top to everyone’s surprise, sweeping aside the favorites in the ranks of the government parties.
Critic of the EU and NATO, this 62-year-old former senior official again declared himself in the media on Friday in favor of a total cessation of military aid to neighboring Ukraine. Although he has in the past expressed his admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin, he has recently avoided taking a clear position, only indicating that he is “pro-Romanian”.
Call for “calm”
Coming out of nowhere after a viral campaign on TikTok, he had to face the pro-European centrist Elena Lasconi, also self-proclaimed “anti-system” and who was rising in the polls, garnering support. She “strongly condemned” the “illegal decision” of a “Romanian state flouting democracy” and “leading the country to anarchy”, believing in a video that “the vote should have taken place”.
The leader of the main far-right AUR party, George Simion, denounced a “politically motivated” decision, “annulling the will of the Romanian people” while calling on his supporters for calm, because “the system must fall democratically”.
According to political scientist Costin Ciobanu, this “historic and unprecedented” cancellation will “polarize” society even more and “raises serious questions about the solidity of institutions.” Conversely, Social Democratic Prime Minister Marcel Ciolanu, the big loser in the first round, welcomed on Facebook the “only good solution after the declassification” on Wednesday of documents showing a result “distorted by the intervention of Russia”.
“Coup d’état”
Political science professor Sergiou Miscoiu also believes that the Court’s unanimous decision is dictated by the judges’ “conviction” that “the elections were falsified, which is true.” As for analyst Cristian Pirvulescu, he spoke to AFP of “a common sense decision” in the face of “a coup d’état at the polls”. “They have taken the decision which will finally restore a level playing field between the competitors,” he said.
Mr. Georgescu’s “Romania first” message found its audience among a part of the population, tired of traditional parties seen as corrupt and faced with economic difficulties, in one of the poorest countries in the world. Europe.
But a follower of conspiracy theories and an admirer of Donald Trump, he mainly benefited on social networks from an “aggressive promotional campaign, in violation of electoral legislation”, according to the authorities. They draw parallels with previous Russian election interference efforts in Europe.
The secret services identified “25,000 TikTok accounts” directly associated with the nationalist candidate’s campaign and became “extremely active two weeks before the election date”, according to these documents. Romania has also detected more than 85,000 cyberattacks, “including on election day”, launched from around thirty countries “and exploiting the vulnerabilities of electoral computer systems” to destabilize the process.
Two investigations have been opened into electoral crimes and money laundering, notably by the anti-corruption prosecutor’s office.