George Simion, a far-right populist politician, today announced his candidacy for the repeat presidential election in Romania, seeking to rally nationalists after the Constitutional Court ruled that the controversial pro-Russian candidate in the first election, Calin Georgeescu, was barred from running in the repeat election.
Far-rightist Đorđescu surprised everyone when, as an independent candidate, previously unknown to the public, he won the most votes in the first round of the presidential election in Romania. The election was then annulled.
Simion submitted his candidacy to the Central Electoral Commission in Bucharest. The commission has 48 hours to register the candidacy or reject it. The rejection decision can be appealed within 24 hours.
"Today we have a divided country, a broken nation," Simion told reporters, claiming that after the fall of Ceausescu and communism in Romania in 1989, leaders "promised freedom and prosperity, but gave us austerity measures and took away our rights."
"No one will steal our votes again, no one will steal our country again," promised Simion, who came fourth in the annulled elections with 13,8 percent of the vote.
Simion (38), leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians, is under criminal investigation for inciting violence after Đorđescu was banned from running in the repeat election this week.
He denied any wrongdoing and claimed the investigation was politically motivated.
Simion was a key figure in demonstrations by far-right groups that condemned the Constitutional Court's decision to annul the first round of the election, two days before the planned second round on December 8.
According to Simion, this is a "coup aimed at undermining democracy."
The Constitutional Court annulled the election due to alleged violations of the electoral process. It was also reported that Russia orchestrated a campaign for Đorđescu through TikTok to help him win.
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