Constitutional Court rules on presidential candidate
The Constitutional Court rejected the presidential candidacy of the Russia-friendly extremist Călin Georgescu
Ştefan Stoica, 12.03.2025, 14:00
Since the night of November 24, when Călin Georgescu came virtually out of nowhere to win the first round of the presidential elections, overtaking high-profile politicians, his name has become the most present on TV channels and news websites.
The question of how this was possible was answered by the Supreme Defence Council, although not very convincingly for some. After putting together data coming from the intelligence services, the Council concluded that the independent candidate Călin Georgescu was the beneficiary of a hybrid attack by a foreign state actor, namely Russia, mainly through very high TikTok exposure.
After the first round, the general public came to learn a few things about candidate Georgescu’s election platform, and eventually got to know a character bordering on the bizarre and the toxic. A fierce critic of the West and of Romania’s NATO and EU membership and an admirer of Putin’s Russia, Georgescu promoted a self-sufficient economic system reminiscent of Ceausescu’s ideology, and praised what he considered Romanian exceptionalism and leading figures of Romanian interwar fascism.
On December 6, the Constitutional Court made an unprecedented decision in three and a half decades of democracy: it annulled the presidential elections, on grounds that the entire election process had been twisted in Georgescu’s favour.
Backed by the country’s self-styled sovereigntist, but in fact populist and ultranationalist parties, last Friday Georgescu registered his candidacy in the upcoming presidential race, due on May 4 and 18. On Sunday, the Central Electoral Bureau rejected his candidacy, relying precisely on the Constitutional Court’s ruling in December. Predictably, on Tuesday, the Court dismissed Călin Georgescu’s appeal as ungrounded in a final ruling.
According to the Central Electoral Bureau, Călin Georgescu’s candidacy does not meet legality criteria, in that, by failing to comply with the election rules he breached the very obligation to defend democracy, which is based on fair, honest and impartial elections.
The sovereigntists, led by AUR party, criticised what they called the “abusive” decision of the Constitutional Court.
Practically born on TikTok, Călin Georgescu’s dazzling but very brief political career seems to have ended at the Constitutional Court. The overexposure, however, brought him other problems as well. The former presidential front-runner was recently placed under court supervision, in a case in which serious charges are brought against him.
The first of them is one of the most severely punished in the Criminal Code, namely incitement to act against the constitutional order. Other charges include false statements regarding his campaign financing, initiating or establishing fascist, racist or xenophobic and anti-Semitic organisations, as well as publicly promoting the cult of individuals guilty of genocide and war crimes. Călin Georgescu denies all accusations. (AMP)
