People wave Romanian flags and hold portraits of far-right presidential candidate Calin Georgescu during a protest in front of Romania's Constitutional Court in Budapest on January 10, 2024. (Photo by Daniel MIHAILESCU / AFP)
Bucharest: Thousands of flag-waving Romanians protested outside parliament on Friday against the annulment of presidential elections, where an obscure far-right candidate had been the front-runner amid claims of Russian interference.
The Constitutional Court last month scrapped the November 24 ballot results which handed a first-round victory to 62-year-old Calin Georgescu after allegations that Russia was trying to sway the vote in the EU and NATO member nation bordering Ukraine.
Georgescu shot to prominence overnight on TikTok, drawing a European Union probe of the social media platform. He has called the vote annulment a "formalised coup d'etat".
Protesters on Friday rallied outside the parliament building, which also houses the Constitutional Court, carrying Romanian flags and chanting "We voted, you stole from us" and "Give us back the second round".
They also held posters of Georgescu, who did not turn up despite encouraging supporters in a video message to gather in front of the Constitutional Court and ask it "to urgently review the decision that has thrown Romania into chaos".
On Friday, his lawyers made a formal request to the court to revise its decision. He is also contesting the annulment in the European Court of Human Rights.
Another far-right leader, George Simion from the AUR party, filed the same request on Friday together with AUR MPs at the constitutional court to revise the decision.
"We have been living in a dictatorship since December 6," Simion told reporters. "We are here to defend democracy."
Simion, 38, placed fourth in the presidential election's first round and then backed Georgescu for the second round.
AUR is planning another protest against the annulment on Sunday in Bucharest.
In parliamentary elections on December 1, the far-right nationalist bloc tripled its score from 2020 to 32 percent on mounting anger over inflation and fears over the war in neighbouring Ukraine.
Pro-European parties struck a deal late last year to form a government without the far right.
The new ruling coalition announced earlier this week that it was planning to organise new presidential elections on May 4.
The government is expected to approve the calendar, which includes a second round on May 18, next week.
The ruling coalition's common candidate, Crin Antonescu, a 65-year-old former president of the Liberal party, announced in a TV interview during the weekend that he is "suspending" his candidacy, complaining of a lack of support from the parties.
Romania has been in crisis since the court cancelled the presidential elections after intelligence documents declassified by the president's office listed "aggressive Russian hybrid actions", including cyberattacks, and massive promotion of Georgescu on social media in the run-up to the vote.
Georgescu, a past admirer of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has denied any links to Moscow.
