Călin Georgescu barred from presidential race as Romanian Constitutional Court rejects appeal

Far-right populist Călin Georgescu cannot run in Romania's May presidential elections after the Constitutional Court (CCR) rejected on Tuesday, March 11, all challenges against the Central Electoral Bureau's (BEC) decision to invalidate his candidacy. The top court's ruling is final and binding.

"I want to tell you that all challenges were rejected unanimously," said CCR president Marian Enache upon leaving the meeting room, as quoted by news agency Agerpres.

Georgescu, the Russia-friendly politician who surprisingly emerged as the first-round winner of last year's annulled presidential elections, submitted his candidacy for the repeat poll on Friday, March 7. However, two days later, on Sunday evening, the Central Electoral Bureau rejected his file, which triggered violent protests in downtown Bucharest.

In a statement explaining its decision, the Electoral Bureau emphasized that presidential candidates must "respect the Constitution and defend democracy," criteria Călin Georgescu fails to meet. The bureau also pointed out that the Constitutional Court had previously annulled an election due to Georgescu, making his candidacy automatically invalid.

The leader of far-right opposition party AUR, George Simion, who has been backing Georgescu in his presidential bid, was among the first to react to CCR's decision. In a post on X, he said, "What a disgrace! Once again, the Constitutional Court is mocking the Romanian people, is attacking our democracy and our essential rights & freedoms. We stand with Călin Georgescu!”

USR leader Elena Lasconi, who was supposed to face Georgescu in the second round of the 2024 presidential elections and is expected to run again this year, also reacted to the news, saying, “I hope the CCR's decision is just a first step. Călin Georgescu must be held criminally accountable for all the atrocities he has been accused of in recent months, and the institutions that have been brought to their knees by the wave of disinformation must be restored and regain credibility! Romanians need to regain their trust in institutions!”