Pro-Western candidate for the presidency of Romania, leader of the Union for the Salvation of Romania (USR) party Victoria Lasconi condemned the decision of the Constitutional Court to cancel the results of the first round of the presidential elections, saying that democracy was trampled in the country.
⠀
Earlier on Friday, judges of the Constitutional Court decided to annul the first round of elections after reconsidering complaints from public organizations, presidential candidates and government agencies. The requests cited documents declassified by the country’s Supreme Security Council, according to which the election campaign took place with violations.
⠀
“This decision of the Constitutional Court is illegal and immoral. This is the moment when the Romanian state trampled democracy. These elections should have continued in order to respect the will of the Romanian people,” Lasconi said in a video message on social networks.
⠀
The leader of the Union to Save Romania party also stressed that “presidents are not appointed through behind-the-scenes negotiations” and said that her victory was stolen from her. “I should have won this election. Such a decision will lead to serious consequences in the future,” she added.
⠀
In Romania, presidential elections were held on November 24, they are held every five years. According to the results of the first round, independent candidate Calin Georgescu, who campaigned on TikTok, took first place with 22.94% of the votes. Lasconi, who supports partnerships with NATO and the US, has 19.18% of the votes. The second round was scheduled for November 8, but the court decision canceled it.
On November 28, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis held a meeting of the Supreme Council of National Defense, during which the Ministry of Internal Affairs and intelligence services presented closed reports on violations during the election campaign. At the request of politicians and the media, these reports were declassified. Iohannis on Wednesday published reports from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and intelligence services, from which it follows that hundreds of bloggers were allegedly paid to promote Georgescu.
⠀
The Romanian information service said the TikTok platform was used to promote Georgescu, with more than 25,000 accounts created, most of which became active two weeks before the first round of elections.
⠀
The investigation by the intelligence services established that the activities of these accounts were controlled through Telegram channels.
