Romanian would-be presidential candidates have lined up after the ouster of far right populist Calin Georgescu from the race, in the hope they can replace the former frontrunner.
But with only three days to go until the deadline for filing their candidacies, a top political scientist has warned that there is physically not enough time to legally collect the 200,000 signatures that are required for a candidate to qualify for the May election.
As parties scrambled on Wednesday to find a candidate to replace Georgescu, after a court on Tuesday banned him from standing, the dean of the National School of Political and Administrative Studies (SNSPA), Remus Pricopie on Wednesday urged state institutions to be vigilant and rigorously verify the authenticity of the signatures of would-be candidates.
In his opinion “collecting 200,000 signatures by midnight March 15 ‘is impossible’ under legal conditions, given that the process requires at least 35,000 hours of work and financial resources estimated at 1.5 million lei for communication and organization, Pricopie said.
“Therefore, a possible bid made in three days and presented on Saturday, March 15, 2025, at the Central Electoral Bureau, raises serious suspicions regarding the authenticity of the documents presented. (…) I strongly call on the competent authorities to be extremely vigilant and to ensure strict compliance with the legal norms. The rule of law and authentic democracy means respecting the rules, even the legal details, in accordance with the Romanian Constitution and the legislation in force,” the dean said.
Tuesday’s ruling was a major setback for Romanian nationalist parties who have surged in recent months and after parliamentary elections now control about one-third of Parliament. Romania’s top court canceled last year’s presidential elections after declassified intelligence reports of international interference to favor Georgescu.
Romania’s electoral process has come under international scrutiny since the election was annulled. European Union members have supported Bucharest for moving to protect democracy from malign interference, but US Vice President JD Vance criticized Romania claiming the election was canceled “on flimsy evidence.”
Mindful of international pressure, Pricopie said the redo of the presidential elections should be held according to the “good” practices recommended by the European Court of Human Rights and the Venice Commission. They must be conducted on the basis of “clear rules, judicious criteria and transparent verification mechanisms”, including with regard to the financing of electoral campaigns, he said.
