(ANSA-AFP) - BUCHAREST, 08 DIC - Romania's far-right
candidate Calin Georgescu on Saturday urged voters to go to
polling stations despite the country's top court having scrapped
the presidential elections over alleged irregularities amid
claims of Russian interference. The court's shock ruling, coming
just before the presidential run-off which had been due Sunday,
opens the way for a new electoral process starting from scratch
in the EU and NATO member state bordering war-torn Ukraine. The
annulment follows a spate of intelligence documents declassified
by the presidency this week detailing allegations against
Georgescu and Russia, including claims of "massive" social media
promotion and cyberattacks. Georgescu -- who unexpectedly topped
last month's first round of voting -- called for voters on
Sunday "to wait to be welcomed, to wait for democracy to win
through their power", said a statement from his team. "Mr. Calin
Georgescu believes that voting is an earned right," said the
statement. "That is why he believes that Romanians have the
right to be in front of the polling stations tomorrow."
Georgescu himself would go to a polling station near Bucharest
at 0600 GMT, said his team. - Raids - Earlier Saturday, police
raided three houses in Brasov city in central Romania as part of
the investigation "in connection with crimes of voter
corruption, money laundering, computer forgery". Among the
houses searched was that of businessman Bogdan Peschir, a TikTok
user who according to the declassified documents allegedly paid
$381,000 to those involved in the promotion of Georgescu,
Romanian media reported. Peschir has compared his support for
Georgescu to the world's richest man Elon Musk's backing of US
president-elect Donald Trump. Little-known outsider Georgescu, a
62-year-old former senior civil servant, was favourite to win
the second round on Sunday against centrist pro-EU mayor Elena
Lasconi, 52, according to several polls. But the constitutional
court on Friday unanimously decided to annul the entire
electoral process as it was "marred... by multiple
irregularities and violations of electoral legislation".
President Klaus Iohannis said on Saturday that he had discussed
with European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, and they
agreed on the "need to strengthen the security of social media".
The European Commission announced earlier this week that it had
stepped up monitoring TikTok after Romania's authorities alleged
"preferential treatment" of Georgescu on the platform -- a claim
the company has denied. - 'Major danger' - Following the
court's decision, the United States said it had faith in
Romania's institutions and called for a "peaceful democratic
process". Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., on X branded the
vote's cancellation an "attempt at rigging the outcome" and
"denying the will of the people". Georgescu called it "a
formalised coup d'etat" and said democracy was "under attack".
His team on Saturday declined to comment on the raids, saying
they "will not comment or provide answers until we have exact
data". Georgescu and another far-right party, the AUR, have said
they plan to appeal the decision to stop the voting to the High
Court of Cassation and Justice. A past admirer of Russian
President Vladimir Putin, Georgescu, an EU and NATO sceptic, in
recent days had reframed himself as "ultra pro-Trump," vowing to
put Romania "on the world map" and cut aid for neighbouring
Ukraine. In an interview with US broadcaster Sky News on
Saturday, Georgescu said there were no links between him and
Russia. Political scientist Costin Ciobanu told AFP that the
annulment has "further polarised Romanian society". With trust
in institutions and the ruling class already low, the vote's
cancellation poses a "major danger that Romanians will think
that it doesn't matter how they vote", Ciobanu added. Elsewhere
in the EU, Austria annulled presidential elections in 2016
because of procedural irregularities. In Romania, a new
government is expected to set another date for the presidential
vote. In last weekend's legislative elections, the ruling Social
Democrats came top. But far-right parties made big gains,
securing an unprecedented third of the ballots on mounting anger
over soaring inflation and fears over Russia's war in Ukraine.
In a joint appeal on Wednesday, the Social Democrats and three
other pro-EU parties -- together making up an absolute majority
in parliament -- signed an agreement to form a coalition,
promising "stability". bur-jza/jj X
/ (ANSA-AFP).
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