Tens of thousands protest in Romania’s capital against annulled presidential race

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BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Tens of thousands protested in Romania’s capital on Sunday against a top court’s decision last month to annul the presidential election after an outsider candidate unexpectedly emerged as the frontrunner.

Many of the demonstrators in Bucharest honked horns and waved Romania’s blue, yellow, and red flags, while others brandished placards bearing slogans such as “Democracy is not optional” and “We want free elections.” Many also demanded the resumption of the presidential race from the second round.

The protest comes a month after the Constitutional Court made the unprecedented move to annul the election just two days before a Dec. 8 runoff. The far-right populist Calin Georgescu shocked many when he won the first round on Nov. 24, after which allegations of electoral violations and Russian interference emerged.

George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians, said at the protest on Sunday, “We are protesting against the coup d’état that took place on Dec. 6.

“We are sorry to discover so late that we were living in a lie and that we were led by people who claimed to be democrats, but are not at all," Simion, whose party organized the protest on Sunday, told reporters. “We demand a return to democracy through the resumption of elections, starting with the second round.”

The canceled presidential race last month plunged the European Union and NATO member country into turmoil and followed other controversies including a recount of first-round votes.

New dates have been set to rerun the vote with the first round scheduled for May 4. If no candidate obtains more than 50% of the ballot, a runoff would be held two weeks later on May 18. It is not yet clear whether Georgescu will be able to participate in the new election.

Georgescu has since challenged the court’s decision at a local appeals court and lodged a complaint at the European Court of Human Rights.

The Constitutional Court’s published decision to annul the elections cited the illegal use of digital technologies including artificial intelligence, as well as the use of “undeclared sources” of funding. Georgescu had declared zero campaign spending.

Many observers attributed Georgescu's success to his TikTok account, which now has 7.2 million likes and 646,000 followers. Some experts suspected Georgescu’s online following was artificially inflated while Romania’s top security body alleged he was given preferential treatment by TikTok over other candidates.

On Friday, another protest in Bucharest was attended by thousands who also expressed anger over the canceled presidential race.

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Associated Press writer Stephen McGrath reported from Targu Mures, Romania.