Guest post: Democracy and the Romanian Presidential Elections

Igor Feio, a Portuguese citizen living in Romania for over ten years, shares his view on the Constitutional Court's recent decision to cancel the first round of the presidential elections in the country.

On November 24, about 9 Million people expressed their vote in the 1st round of the Presidential Elections. It was a somehow historic electoral act not only because, for the first time in decades, the two final candidates were not part of the two major political parties but also because a completely unknown contender with an extreme and populist ideology ended up in the 1st place.

The repercussions of this result were immediate for some, as was the case of Nicolae Ciuca, who resigned from PNL party leadership, or Marcel Ciolacu, leader of PSD and Prime Minister, who also announced his resignation – in the meantime revoked. While others, assumed their defeat and showed support to one of the two finalists. However, and this is important to highlight, none of the candidates participating in this election presented any claim or questioned the possibility of irregularities or fraud.

Meanwhile, the country was surprised and in constant debate about Calin Georgescu and Elena Lasconi, and in preparation for the Parliamentary Elections of December 1st, the Electoral Commission (BEC) announced, days later, that due to some possible anomalies, the votes needed to be recounted. However, as we came to find out, upon counting once again the ballots and even if minor aspects could have been considered, though they wouldn’t change the final candidates, BEC validated the election and the results.

One of my favorite types of movies and series is the psychological ones. Those that we watch and believe to have understood the plot, but then there’s an unexpected twist that changes the entire story and, of course, your perception of the characters and the narrative. Yet, the main reason why I do enjoy these ones is because we are talking about fiction, and normally, even if life itself is not linear, it tends to be clear. Therefore, when completely out of nowhere, the Constitutional Court (CCR) decided to cancel the 1st round of the Presidential Elections, I certainly did not see that coming. Apparently, it was not only me but everyone else, including the entire political class, who requested clarifications regarding this verdict. All couldn’t comprehend this action, except the current President Klaus Iohannis. A man who saw his expired term extended for an undetermined number of months mentioned in a communication to the country that the CCR decision needs to be respected. Nothing else and nothing more.

In a few days from now, we are expecting a new government and parliament to be validated and announced by President Iohannis. Still, to this day, the decision made by the CCR is not fully clear in terms of valid arguments or documents, as it continues being highly criticized by several elements of Romanian society. For now, however, we expect a decision about when the new Presidential Elections will be and if the candidates will be the same, although from the most recent news, that does not seem to be the case. And taking into consideration the changes inside the political scene, it makes sense, somehow.