Romania’s coalition government has opted to push back the country’s re-run of its 2024 presidential election to May.
The Liberal Party confirmed on January 8 the first round would be held on May 4, while the second was set to take place on May 18, nearly three months later than initially expected.
Officials justified the decision by saying they did not want to see the election overlap with Orthodox Christian Easter in April. They added that the selected dates already coincided with other local ballots set to be held in some cities.
That explanation did not prove sufficient for many opposition groups in the country.
The hard-right Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) blasted the decision to re-run the elections at all. It insisted the November 2024 first round vote should be respected and the second should be held as soon as possible.
“The decision to cancel the elections is a coup d’état and a serious violation of the Constitution. The current president of Romania is illegitimate, and his mandate should have ended on December 21,” the party said.
Elena Lasconi, the runner-up in the annulled first round, expressed confusion as to why the vote was to be held so late in the year. She also queried how the re-run would be any more immune to alleged Russian interference than the one held last year.
“Why May 4? How did they calculate this date? Why so late?” Lasconi said. “Why did they cancel the elections, who is responsible and why?”
Pro-Russia independent candidate Călin Georgescu, who won the first round last year, has continued to press the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to force Romania to respect the result and continue the elections as soon as possible.
COMMENT: The documents relied upon to annul Romania’s presidential election first round provide no concrete evidence of Russian state interference or any links between presidential candidate Calin Georgescu and Russia, writes @GElefteriu. https://t.co/AMkt8cxIEp
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) January 9, 2025
Romania’s decision to cancel its elections over undetailed reports of alleged Russian interference has divided the country.
Some have seen the move as a necessary evil to protect Romania’s democracy from Moscow. Others have viewed it as a simple attempt by powerful interests in the country to prevent an “outsider” from coming to power.
Questions have also been raised as to whether an election re-run would change anything. Latest polls have indicated Georgescu would still comfortably be victorious if the race was re-run today.
Some in the country have suggested he be prevented from running again. MP Alexandru Muraru has said Romanians should not have the opportunity to vote for Georgescu a second time.
“There are numerous elements that make me believe that Mr Georgescu cannot be a candidate on the ballot in the presidential elections,” he said, alleging the independent candidate was an “extremist” who “frauds the elections in such a brutal way”.
The ruling coalition has confirmed it would again be backing Crin Antonescu as its candidate for president in the May ballot.
That was despite a period of confusion regarding Antonescu’s candidate status, with the veteran politician having previously made a statement indicating he was pulling out of the race.
He later clarified he was not abandoning an election run but was rejecting the coalition’s backing of him due to what he regarded as the failure of some of the governing parties to properly endorse him.
Such issues now appear to be resolved, according to the Liberal Party.
“The Coalition has reconfirmed that Mr Crin Antonescu remains its candidate for the presidential elections,” an official statement said recently.
The issue of Romania’s annulled presidential election is to be heard at the European Court of Human Rights, media in the country has reported. https://t.co/EebJQdrH4U
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) January 2, 2025
