Romania to Reinitiate Presidential Elections Amid Investigation of Top Candidate

Bucharest, Dec 7 (NationPress) The Constitutional Court of Romania (CCR) has ruled to nullify the complete electoral process of the presidential elections, despite the second round of voting having already started in the diaspora.

This decision was made public on Friday, merely two days prior to the anticipated second round of the presidential election, which was supposed to showcase a contest between independent candidate Calin Georgescu and the leader of the Save Romania Union, Elena Lasconi, as reported by Xinhua news agency.

The preliminary results of the first round of the presidential elections, released last week by the Central Electoral Bureau, indicated that Georgescu led with 2,120,401 votes (22.94 percent), followed closely by Lasconi (19.18 percent) and Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu from the Social Democratic Party (19.15 percent).

The annulment was prompted by complaints from various entities, including the candidate of the Romanian National Conservative Party, Cristian Terhes, who received 95,782 votes in the first round, accounting for 1.04 percent of the total.

On Monday, the CCR dismissed Terhes's request to invalidate the results of the first round of the 2024 presidential election conducted on November 24. However, the CCR's ruling on Friday compels the government to establish a new election date and entirely restart the electoral process.

A new government in Romania will be formed following the validation of the parliamentary elections on December 1.

President Klaus Iohannis has stated he will remain in office until a new president is inaugurated. He reiterated that he does not aspire to become Romania's prime minister.

Additionally, on Friday, Romania's Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) initiated a criminal inquiry into alleged cybercrimes linked to Georgescu's presidential campaign, based on declassified intelligence from Romania's Supreme Council for National Defence.

Other candidates expressed differing views regarding the annulment. Lasconi deemed it a setback for democracy, arguing that the electoral process should have proceeded. She expressed confidence in her chances for victory in the runoff.

Conversely, Ciolacu referred to the CCR's decision as the “only correct solution”. He underscored the necessity for investigations to pinpoint those responsible for any interference and reiterated Romania's dedication to its pro-European trajectory.

Romania's intelligence agencies reported that Georgescu's TikTok campaign, supported by 1 million euros, was targeted by state-sponsored cyber actors during a time of increased hybrid assaults against the nation attributed to Russian interests. The Ministry of Internal Affairs also highlighted connections between Georgescu's supporters and extremist, criminal, and pro-Russian factions.

Nonetheless, the DIICOT stressed that the investigation is still in its initial phases, and no formal charges have yet been filed.