George Simion, the leader of Romania’s largest far-right party filed his his bid to run in May’s presidential elections, seeking to woo voters from the former frontrunner who was barred from the race over his anti-democratic views.
Simion, 38, who heads Romania’s second largest party, the Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), submitted his candidacy with electoral authorities a day before the deadline expires.
Simion decided to run for the May 4 presidential race after the electoral bureau banned Georgescu, leaving the far right without a candidate. He came fourth in last year’s presidential elections which were then canceled over reports of Russian interference.
Georgescu’s unexpectedly won the first round of the election which shocked the ruling class and even Georgescu’s supporters. The top court then canceled the election, plunging Romania into its biggest political crisis of decades.
Georgescu has styled himself as a victim of the political elite and ahead of his ouster was the frontrunner with polls giving him about 40% of the vote.
