Hundreds of protesters gathered in Bucharest after a far-right populist unexpectedly won the first round of a presidential race, plunging Romania into turmoil just days before the country holds parliamentary elections.
Sunday’s ballot will determine a new government and prime minister to lead the European Union and Nato member country.
The vote is sandwiched between the two rounds of the presidential race and is overshadowed by controversies and chaos following the outcome of the first vote.
Despite polling at less than 10% before the first round, a far-right politician who has praised Romanian fascist leaders and Russian president Vladimir Putin won the most votes in the November 24 ballot.
Calin Georgescu is due to face reformist Elena Lasconi of the Save Romania Union party in a December 8 runoff.
“He’s pro-Russia, pro-Putin, and we, the people — and especially the young people — we are supporting democracy,” said Sebastian Marin, an 18-year-old student who attended a protest on Wednesday in the capital. “It’s really important for people to mobilise.”
Mr Georgescu’s success, which many have attributed to his rapid rise in popularity on the social media platform TikTok, has triggered nightly protests throughout Romania by those who oppose his past remarks and view him as a threat to democracy.
According to a report by Expert Forum, a Bucharest-based think tank, Mr Georgescu’s TikTok account has had an explosion which it said “appears sudden and artificial, similar to his polling results”.
Without naming Mr Georgescu, who declared zero campaign spending, Romania’s top defence body said on Thursday that “a presidential candidate benefited from massive exposure due to preferential treatment” granted by TikTok. Romania has become a “priority target for hostile actions” by Russia, it added.
The Kremlin denies it is meddling.
The same day, the Constitutional Court requested a recount of all 9.4 million votes after a former presidential candidate who obtained 1% lodged a complaint alleging the Save Romania Union had violated electoral laws against campaign activities on polling day.
The Central Election Bureau approved the request and said scanned reports were due to be sent in by 10pm Sunday.
On Friday, the court postponed a decision until Monday on whether to annul the vote.
Opposite the government headquarters, people of all ages, but mostly young people, could be heard chanting: “Democracy saves Romania!”
A protest in Bucharest on Friday organised by the Corruption Kills community, demanded “that the votes be recounted with independent observers and cameras” and accused the Constitutional Court of “once again attacking democracy” in the interest of a specific party.
It is the first time in Romania’s 35-year post-communist history that the leftist Social Democratic Party did not have a candidate in a presidential runoff.
Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu resigned as party leader after he lost to Lasconi by a wafer-thin 2,740 votes, and Nicolae Ciuca also resigned as leader of the centre-right National Liberal Party after obtaining just 8.7%.
While the presidential role in Romania has significant decision-making powers in areas such as national security and foreign policy, the prime minister is the head of the nation’s government. Sunday’s vote will determine the formation of the country’s 466-seat legislature.
Since 2021, Romania’s two biggest parties — the Social Democrats and the National Liberal Party — formed an unlikely coalition, which has become bitterly strained. A small ethnic Hungarian party exited the cabinet last year following disputes over a power-sharing agreement.
Like many countries throughout Europe or even the US anti-incumbency sentiment is running high in Romania, which has experienced high inflation and cost of living, has a large budget deficit, and a sluggish economy. It has bolstered support for far-right populist parties.
Recent surveys have suggested the top three parties in Sunday’s race will be the PSD; the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians, and the PNL. After rising to the political scene eight years ago on an anti-corruption ticket, the Save Romania Union’s popularity has waned in recent years but could garner the next most votes.
