Romania bars far-right candidate from presidential election
Photo: Călin Georgescu, Romanian far-right politician (Getty Images)
In Romania, the controversial and far-right leader of the party, Călin Georgescu, has not been registered to participate in the presidential election in May. This could intensify political upheaval in the country, reports Bloomberg.
On Sunday, a representative from the Bucharest Electoral Bureau stated that Georgescu’s candidacy had been deemed invalid. Specifically, the bureau received over 1,000 complaints about the politician, mostly related to his anti-democratic and extremist positions. However, the decision can still be appealed to the Constitutional Court.
According to Bloomberg, the decision to exclude Georgescu from the May 4th presidential race is likely to fuel anti-system sentiments in Romania and benefit far-right factions. Polls have shown that if Georgescu were to run, he would receive 40-45 percent of the vote in the first round, giving him a real chance of becoming Romania’s president.
His disqualification could also increase the chances of a pro-European candidate winning the election, but it may harm relations with the US. Recently, Bloomberg reported that American officials urged Bucharest to allow Georgescu to run.
“Everyone is watching Romania and how the corrupt system acted,” the politician said on Friday, noting that his name should not be excluded from the list of candidates in the election.
It is currently unclear whether he will support any of the other candidates.
Bloomberg notes that the Supreme Court annulled the results after Georgescu unexpectedly won the first round of last year’s presidential election. The court cited suspicions of Russian interference in his campaign. This, in turn, triggered a political crisis in the country.
For more details about who Georgescu is and what he said about Ukraine, read RBC-Ukraine's article.
