Romania's top court scraps presidential election
Published: 06:12 PM,Dec 06,2024 | EDITED : 10:12 PM,Dec 06,2024
Elena Lasconi (L) and Calin Georgescu
BUCHAREST: Romania's constitutional court announced on Friday that it had annulled the presidential election following allegations of Russian interference, effectively cancelling the second-round run-off that had been due to take place this weekend.
Romanian authorities had cried foul after far-right outsider Calin Georgescu topped the first round of presidential elections on November 24, a surprise result in the EU and Nato member bordering Ukraine.
On Wednesday, the presidency declassified documents detailing a slew of allegations against Georgescu and Russia, including 'massive' social media promotion and cyber-attacks.
The court said it had decided 'to annul the entire electoral process for the election of the President of Romania... to ensure the correctness and legality of the electoral process'.
It said the decision had been unanimous without giving further details.
'The government will set a new date for the election of the president of Romania,' it added. Georgescu, a former senior civil servant, had been due to face centrist mayor Elena Lasconi in Sunday's runoff.
Fears had been rife that if Georgescu won, the country would join the EU's far-right bloc and undermine European unity against Russia.
Outgoing Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu welcomed the court's decision in a post on Facebook. It was, he said 'the only correct solution after the declassification of the documents... which show that the result of the Romanians' vote was blatantly distorted as a result of Russia's intervention.'
The documents, drawn up for a security council meeting after the first round of voting, were published late on Wednesday.
In them, the authorities said data had 'revealed an aggressive promotional campaign, in violation of electoral legislation, and an exploitation of algorithms to increase the popularity of Calin Georgescu at an accelerated pace'.
Last week they slammed 'preferential treatment' of Georgescu by TikTok, which the social media platform has denied. A company spokeswoman said on Thursday that TikTok had 'no evidence that a coordinated campaign has taken place on our platform to date.'
The European Commission announced on Thursday that it had stepped up its monitoring of TikTok in the context of Romania's elections. — AFP
Romanian authorities had cried foul after far-right outsider Calin Georgescu topped the first round of presidential elections on November 24, a surprise result in the EU and Nato member bordering Ukraine.
On Wednesday, the presidency declassified documents detailing a slew of allegations against Georgescu and Russia, including 'massive' social media promotion and cyber-attacks.
The court said it had decided 'to annul the entire electoral process for the election of the President of Romania... to ensure the correctness and legality of the electoral process'.
It said the decision had been unanimous without giving further details.
'The government will set a new date for the election of the president of Romania,' it added. Georgescu, a former senior civil servant, had been due to face centrist mayor Elena Lasconi in Sunday's runoff.
Fears had been rife that if Georgescu won, the country would join the EU's far-right bloc and undermine European unity against Russia.
Outgoing Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu welcomed the court's decision in a post on Facebook. It was, he said 'the only correct solution after the declassification of the documents... which show that the result of the Romanians' vote was blatantly distorted as a result of Russia's intervention.'
The documents, drawn up for a security council meeting after the first round of voting, were published late on Wednesday.
In them, the authorities said data had 'revealed an aggressive promotional campaign, in violation of electoral legislation, and an exploitation of algorithms to increase the popularity of Calin Georgescu at an accelerated pace'.
Last week they slammed 'preferential treatment' of Georgescu by TikTok, which the social media platform has denied. A company spokeswoman said on Thursday that TikTok had 'no evidence that a coordinated campaign has taken place on our platform to date.'
The European Commission announced on Thursday that it had stepped up its monitoring of TikTok in the context of Romania's elections. — AFP