BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — A top Romanian court on Friday annulled the first round of the country's presidential election, days after allegations that Russia ran a coordinated online campaign to promote the far-right outsider who won the first round.
The Constitutional Court’s unprecedented decision — which is final — came after President Klaus Iohannis declassified intelligence on Wednesday that alleged Russia ran a sprawling campaign comprising thousands of social media accounts promoting Calin Georgescu across platforms such as TikTok and Telegram.
The intelligence files were from the Romanian Intelligence Service, the Foreign Intelligence Service, the Special Telecommunication Service and the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Despite being an outsider who declared zero campaign spending, Georgescu emerged as the frontrunner on Nov. 24. He was due to face reformist Elena Lasconi of the Save Romania Union party in a runoff on Sunday.
Iohannis said that once a new government is formed, new dates will be set to rerun the vote from scratch, and that he will remain in office until a new president is elected. Some 951 voting stations had already opened abroad on Friday for the runoff for Romania’s large diaspora but had to be halted.
Sandwiched in the week in between the scheduled presidential race, Romania also held a parliamentary election which saw pro-Western parties win the most votes but also gains for far-right nationalists.
In a televised statement Friday, Iohannis said he was “deeply concerned” by the contents of the intelligence reports, which indicated one candidate’s campaign was “unlawfully supported from outside Romania” and was a matter of national security.
“The same candidate declared zero campaign expenditures, despite running a highly sophisticated campaign,” he said. “Intelligence reports revealed that this candidate’s campaign was supported by a foreign state with interests contrary to Romania’s. These are serious issues.”
Lasconi strongly condemned the court's decision, saying it was “illegal, immoral, and crushes the very essence of democracy.”
“We should have moved forward with the vote. We should have respected the will of the Romanian people. Whether we like it or not, from a legal and legitimate standpoint, 9 million Romanian citizens, both in the country and the diaspora, expressed their preference for a particular candidate through their votes. We cannot ignore their will!" she said.
“I know I would have won. And I will win because the Romanian people know I will fight for them, that I will unite them for a better Romania,” she added. “I will defend our democracy. I will not give up.”
She said the issue of Russian interference should have been tackled after the election was completed. Some 9.4 million people — about 52.5% of eligible voters — had cast ballots in the first round.
Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said in a statement the annulment was “the only correct solution” following the intelligence drop which revealed the “Romanian people’s vote was flagrantly distorted as a result of Russian interference.”
“The presidential elections must be held again,” he said in a post on Facebook. “At the same time, investigations by the authorities must uncover who is responsible for the massive attempt to influence the outcome of the presidential election.”
The same court last week ordered a recount of the first-round votes, which added to the myriad controversies that have engulfed a chaotic election cycle. Following a recount, the court then validated the first-round results on Monday.
Many observers have expressed concerns that annulling the vote could trigger civil unrest.
George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians, said the development was a “coup d’état in full swing” but urged people not to take to the streets. “We don’t let ourselves be provoked, this system has to fall democratically,” he said.
Cristian Andrei, a political consultant based in Bucharest, said the court's decision amounts to a “crisis mode situation for Romanian democracy.”
“In light of the information about the external interference, the massive interference in elections, I think this was not normal but predictable, because it’s not normal times at all, Romania is an uncharted territory,” he told The Associated Press. “The problem is here, do we have the institutions to manage such an interference in the future?”
Thirteen candidates ran in the first round presidential vote in this European Union and NATO member country. The president serves a five-year term and has significant decision-making powers in areas such as national security, foreign policy and judicial appointments.
Before the first round vote, most surveys predicted the top three candidates would be Ciolacu, who came in third place, and Simion or Lasconi in second place. As the surprising results came in with Georgescu on top, and Lasconi narrowly beating Ciolacu, it sent shockwaves through the political establishment and plunged it into turmoil.
Georgescu’s surprising success in the presidential race left many political observers wondering how most local surveys were so far off, putting him behind at least five other candidates before the vote.
Many observers attributed his success to his TikTok account, which now has 6 million likes and 541,000 followers. But some experts suspect Georgescu’s online following was artificially inflated while Romania’s top security body alleged he was given preferential treatment by TikTok over other candidates.
In the intelligence release, the secret services alleged that one TikTok user paid more $381,000 (361,000 euros) to other users to promote Georgescu content. Intelligence authorities said information they obtained “revealed an aggressive promotion campaign” to increase and accelerate his popularity.
Georgescu, when asked by the AP in an interview Wednesday whether he believes the Chinese-owned TikTok poses a threat to democracy, defended social media platforms.
“The most important existing function for promoting free speech and freedom of expression is social media,” he said.
Stephen Mcgrath, The Associated Press
