Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Romania’s capital on Saturday in the latest anti-government demonstration by far-right groups after a top court canceled a presidential election in the EU country last year.
Protesters converged in front of the government building in Bucharest, waving Romania’s tricolor flags and chanting slogans such as “down with the government” and “thieves.”
Many expressed support for Calin Georgescu, who emerged as the frontrunner in December’s canceled election, and demanded they be resumed from the second round.
Photo: Reuters
George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), which organized the protest, told supporters on Saturday: “We are united, we are strong. We are here because our vote was stolen, because democracy was trampled on.”
Simion told reporters that the protest aimed to “restore democracy and free elections,” and demanded the resignation of Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu.
“We do not trust that the upcoming elections will be free and fair,” he said.
A no-confidence vote on Friday, which was backed by AUR and two other far-right opposition parties, failed to unseat Ciolacu’s pro-Western coalition government, which was formed after a Dec. 1 parliamentary election last year.
Romania has seen recurring protests after its Constitutional Court made the unprecedented move to annul the election two days ahead of the Dec. 8 runoff following Georgescu’s surprise first-round win. The far-right populist had polled in single digits and declared zero campaign spending. Allegations of electoral violations and Russian interference quickly emerged. Moscow has denied it meddled in Romania’s election.
On Wednesday last week, Romanian prosecutors launched a criminal investigation against Georgescu, accusing him of supporting fascist groups, “incitement to actions against the constitutional order,” and false declarations regarding electoral campaign financing and asset disclosures.
Prosecutors have placed him under judicial control, his lawyers said.
Georgescu, who has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, attended Saturday’s protest in which he told supporters that “the system has maliciously tried to divide us” and that “old and new cronies tried to block my candidacy.”
The first round of the rerun of the election is scheduled for May 4. If no candidate gets more than 50 percent of ballots, a runoff would follow on May 18.
It is not yet clear whether Georgescu would be able to participate in the new election.
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