Archive: https://ghostarchive.org/archive/gLjQ6
Romania’s constitutional court in December annulled the first presidential vote after declassified intelligence reports described a covert campaign to benefit Georgescu, though evidence linking it to Russia was sparse. The operation was said to include cyber attacks, misinformation and sabotage, and a pattern of payments to influencers particularly on TikTok — though Georgescu declared he had spent no money on a social media campaign. Georgescu denied receiving Russian support and said he had no control over what supporters might have done in his name. But Romania’s election authority this week blocked his registration for the May rerun, saying he had violated electoral rules that were essential to uphold democracy and the rule of law.
It would have been better for Georgescu to be allowed to run in May, with robust institutional safeguards in place and his sometimes bizarre utterances subjected to the full glare of media and voter scrutiny. It is true that Romania’s democracy is among the EU’s most fragile, and has already shown itself vulnerable to manipulation. Senior Romanian officials say privately they have more detailed evidence on Georgescu.
If so, Romanian authorities should be explaining to their allies, chiefly the US, why the ban is necessary. The outcome has played into the US administration’s attempts to depict the affair as an attack on free speech and democracy.
More importantly, the authorities should also make as much evidence public as possible. Voters who cast their ballots in large numbers for Georgescu last year deserve a complete and convincing explanation of why they will not have the chance this time.
Banning Georgescu has triggered protests from his supporters, and risks only swelling a protest vote for an alternative far-right candidate. The incident highlights again the need for Romania and all European democracies to tighten election monitoring and controls on outside interference in the digital era.
But it is a warning, too, for Romania’s mainstream parties, which, even more than in many EU counterparts, have failed in a series of often sleazy and ineffectual governments to satisfy the demands of voters. It is this, above all, that has opened the way for the rise of radical candidates such as Georgescu.
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Georgescu was not allowed to run in the May election because he refused to sign the form regarding his income. And when pressed further, said if he did sign the declaration it would be perjury.
Which isn’t to say he might have been banned regardless…but show me any democratic country that allows candidates to run without filling out the necessary forms. This whole thing is just manufactured outrage.
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I am not Romanian and so perhaps misinformed. But what I’ve seen online (from Euronews and other outlets) is that the Central Election Committee refused to allow him on the ballot over refusal to sign income declarations and other document irregularities. He then appealed to Constitutional Court, which also wouldn’t put him on the ballot. As I said, pretty much any country would not allow candidate on the ballot if they don’t fill out the proper docs.
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@federalreverse@feddit.org This is another reason I cite respected neoliberal media - the last paragraph has much more weight than if it came from someone like Yanis Varoufakis.
