Romanian politician Kelin Georgescu on 11 March lost his appeal against the Central Electoral Commission’s decision to ban him from running in the country’s planned repeat presidential election in May 2025.
The Constitutional Court rejected the politician’s appeal in a unanimous decision by all nine judges.
Hundreds of people gathered in support of Georgescu outside the courthouse in the centre of Bucharest. The head of the far-right AUR (Alliance for the Unity of Romanians) party, George Simion, accused the court of” mocking the Romanian people” and “attacking our democracy and our fundamental rights and freedoms”.
On the evening of 10 March, Georgescu appealed to the Romanian Constitutional Court against the decision of the Central Electoral Commission, which on 9 March refused to register Georgescu’s candidacy for the presidential election. The judgement states that the Romanian CEC rejected the politician’s candidacy because of problems with documents – “he submitted an unsigned appeal explaining the difference in income in his declaration”.
Georgescu called the decision of the Romanian CEC “a direct blow to the heart of democracy”.
On 9 March, after the announcement of the CEC decision, clashes broke out in Bucharest between the politician’s supporters and law enforcers. According to police data announced on 10 March, 13 law enforcers were injured in clashes with activists in the old centre of Bucharest.