Romania's electoral body has rejected a far-right populist’s candidacy for the upcoming presidential election rerun, sparking controversy and accusations of a "coup d'état".
Calin Georgescu, who won the first round of the presidential election in 2024, submitted his candidacy on Friday.
However, the Central Election Bureau (BEC) refused to register him, a decision met with immediate backlash from his supporters.
The BEC has not yet publicly clarified the grounds for rejecting Georgescu's candidacy, promising to publish a full explanation on its website.
Georgescu has the option to appeal the decision to the Constitutional Court, which an adviser told Reuters he would do.
It follows the annulment of the initial election results by the Constitutional Court just two days before the December 8 2024 runoff.
Allegations of Russian interference in the form of an online campaign promoting Georgescu led to that court move.
At the time, Georgescu, running as an independent, condemned the annulment as an "officialised coup" and an assault on democracy.
George Simion, leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians and a vocal supporter of Georgescu, echoed these sentiments on Sunday, labeling the BEC's rejection as “a new abuse and a continuation of the coup d’état”.
The rejection throws the upcoming election into further uncertainty and raises questions about the fairness and transparency of the electoral process.
“Down with Ciolacu, down with the dictators!” he said in a post on Facebook, referring to Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu.
In February, prosecutors launched a criminal investigation against Georgescu, accusing him of “incitement to actions against the constitutional order”, supporting fascist groups and false declarations of electoral campaign funding and asset disclosures.
Before the November 24 election, Georgescu, who is under judicial control and has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, had polled in single digits and declared zero campaign spending.
Allegations quickly emerged of electoral violations and Russian interference. Moscow denied that it had meddled in the election.
The first round of the rerun is scheduled for May 4. If no candidate wins more than 50 per cent of ballots, a runoff will follow on May 18.
The deadline for presidential candidacy applications is March 15 at midnight.
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