Former presidential candidate Călin Georgescu rejects Bucharest mayoral elections as “a farce”

Călin Georgescu, the far-right populist who surprisingly emerged as the first-round winner of last year's annulled presidential elections, announced on Sunday evening, November 2, that he will not get involved in the upcoming Bucharest mayoral elections, arguing that the vote lacks legitimacy under what he described as an "illegitimate government."

In a video message posted on social media, he also urged voters to "think twice before validating a farce organized under the guise of good intentions."

"A government without legitimacy cannot organize legitimate elections, neither in Bucharest nor anywhere else," Georgescu said, as reported by News.ro.

Furthermore, the former presidential candidate drew attention to what he called the "macabre coincidence" that the elections for Bucharest City Hall are scheduled for December 7, marking one year since the annulment of the 2024 presidential election.

"It has been a year since the elections that buried democracy and freedom in Romania were annulled, and now we are asked to legitimize that fraud," he said.

Moreover, the former candidate reiterated that he will not engage "in any way" in the local race, noting that "no old or new political party can claim to speak on his behalf."

He added that his decision is not a matter of refusal but of principle: "If those elections had not been annulled, there would be no need for elections in Bucharest today."

The Constitutional Court annulled the November 24, 2024, presidential election results on December 6 of that year, after Georgescu had emerged as the frontrunner. In September 2025, Cǎlin Georgescu was indicted for alleged complicity in attempting to commit actions against the constitutional order and for spreading false information. Twenty-one other individuals, including mercenary leader Horațiu Potra and his son, were also charged in the same case.

According to prosecutors, Horațiu Potra's group of mercenaries had planned to incite unrest and overthrow the government after the 2024 presidential election was canceled. The attempt