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