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Thousands in Romania Protest Prez. Race01/13 06:14
BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) -- Tens of thousands protested in Romania's capital
on Sunday against a top court's decision last month to annul the presidential
election after an outsider candidate unexpectedly emerged as the frontrunner.
Many of the demonstrators in Bucharest honked horns and waved Romania's
blue, yellow, and red flags, while others brandished placards bearing slogans
such as "Democracy is not optional" and "We want free elections." Many also
demanded the resumption of the presidential race from the second round.
The protest comes a month after the Constitutional Court made the
unprecedented move to annul the election just two days before a Dec. 8 runoff.
The far-right populist Calin Georgescu shocked many when he won the first round
on Nov. 24, after which allegations of electoral violations and Russian
interference emerged.
George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of
Romanians, said at the protest on Sunday, "We are protesting against the coup
d'tat that took place on Dec. 6.
"We are sorry to discover so late that we were living in a lie and that we
were led by people who claimed to be democrats, but are not at all," Simion,
whose party organized the protest on Sunday, told reporters. "We demand a
return to democracy through the resumption of elections, starting with the
second round."
The canceled presidential race last month plunged the European Union and
NATO member country into turmoil and followed other controversies including a
recount of first-round votes.
New dates have been set to rerun the vote with the first round scheduled for
May 4. If no candidate obtains more than 50% of the ballot, a runoff would be
held two weeks later on May 18. It is not yet clear whether Georgescu will be
able to participate in the new election.
Georgescu has since challenged the court's decision at a local appeals court
and lodged a complaint at the European Court of Human Rights.
The Constitutional Court's published decision to annul the elections cited
the illegal use of digital technologies including artificial intelligence, as
well as the use of "undeclared sources" of funding. Georgescu had declared zero
campaign spending.
Many observers attributed Georgescu's success to his TikTok account, which
now has 7.2 million likes and 646,000 followers. Some experts suspected
Georgescu's online following was artificially inflated while Romania's top
security body alleged he was given preferential treatment by TikTok over other
candidates.
On Friday, another protest in Bucharest was attended by thousands who also
expressed anger over the canceled presidential race.
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