Chaos in Romania: A Political Crisis Never Seen Before [BREAKING – First Round Validated]

Romania is in chaos following dramatic developments in the wake of the first round of the presidential elections on November 24th.

The country’s Constitutional Court has ordered a recount of all votes cast, with some reports in the Romanian media suggesting that the first round could be entirely invalidated.

UPDATE: The political crisis deepens. The CCR decided to annul the elections and ordered them to be restarted from scratch. Get all the details here.

This decision was immediately slammed as anti-democratic by some political party leaders, including first-round runner-up Elena Lasconi (source), and also George Simion, leader of the extremist party AUR (source). While other political leaders have voiced criticism, their statements have been more restrained.

Surprisingly, Marcel Ciolacu, the presidential candidate from PSD – the party currently governing in coalition with PNL – announced that even if the recount places him ahead of Elena Lasconi, he would still withdraw from the race (source).

BREAKING NEWS UPDATE: The results of the first round are validated!

The Romanian Constitutional Court just announced that the results of the first round of the presidential elections have been validated, after recounting the votes. This means that Romanians will choose their next president on December 8th – either centrist Elena Lasconi (USR) or extremist Calin Georgescu (independent). [Source]

This is expected to be a very close battle, as the Parliamentary Elections on December 1st came with fragmented results and no clear winners.

Original article follows (read all the updates for a clearer overview)

All of these, combined with the surprise first-round victory of independent candidate Calin Georgescu – a figure known for his nationalist, religious, and pro-Russian stance – has thrown Romania into further disarray. To describe the current atmosphere as tense would be a severe understatement.

Romania is about to explode. Or implode. Either way, the nation finds itself at a boiling point.

And all of these happen before parliamentary elections in Romania, which I am now 100% sure will complicate things even further.

NOTE: Keep this browser tab open at all times and refresh regularly, as I will update the timeline below constantly from now on with the latest developments!

Timeline of the events

To provide clarity in this rapidly unfolding situation, here’s a chronological view of key developments, including important contextual details. This timeline will be updated as the crisis evolves.

1. The First Round of Elections

The turmoil began with the presidential election’s first round, where Romanians delivered a surprise victory to Calin Georgescu, a virtually unknown independent candidate who campaigned almost exclusively on TikTok.

Centrist candidate Elena Lasconi secured second place, narrowly edging out PSD’s Marcel Ciolacu. This marks the first time in Romania’s democratic history that a PSD candidate failed to advance to the second round.

2. Allegations of PSD Manipulation

Rumors emerged suggesting that PSD initially sought to redirect votes to far-right candidate George Simion (source), believing his presence in the second round would ensure an easy victory for Ciolacu – although he always denied it (source).

However, as it became evident that Simion lacked the numbers, PSD reportedly shifted their support to Calin Georgescu, employing the same strategy, according to website Vestea which claims to have confirmation from various PSD mayors.

This alleged maneuvering backfired, as diaspora votes ultimately propelled Elena Lasconi ahead of Ciolacu by a margin of fewer than 3,000 votes. If true, PSD’s attempts to “game the system” inadvertently eliminated their own candidate from the presidential race.

But even more troubling is the fact that they ignored the country’s democratic values completely.

3. Political Realignments

In the aftermath, nearly all non-extremist parties declared their support for Elena Lasconi in the second round – except PSD.

This has fueled conspiracy theories that PSD is working to overturn the results and push their candidate into the next stage, though such claims remain unverified.

4. Constitutional Court Orders Recount

Responding to a complaint by Cristian Terheș alleging discrepancies in three voting sections, the Constitutional Court controversially ordered a nationwide vote recount. (source)

Critics argue that the Court should have first verified the claims in the specific sections before extending the recount. Something similar happened during the 2009 elections when the Constitutional Court ordered the recount of the invalid votes only.

Interestingly, Cristian Terheș was a member of PSD until 2020. This adds fuel to the fire claiming that PSD is orchestrating this maneuver.

5. Ciolacu Steps Back

Marcel Ciolacu announced that even if the recount places him in the second round, he will withdraw from the race (source). He had already stepped down as PSD’s president because of his poor performance during the elections. (source)

However, this declaration has only deepened the crisis.

6. Lasconi’s Legal Challenge

Elena Lasconi has vowed to contest the Constitutional Court’s decision at Romania’s High Court of Cassation and Justice and has pledged to bring the issue to the Venice Commission.

Lasconi said: “I believe this is an attack on national security, as it destabilizes the country, and a large portion of the population is already driven by hatred.” [via ProTV].

7. Logistical Impossibility

Experts and political analysts argue that the Court’s mandate for a recount within 24 hours is unfeasible. Speculation is mounting that the first round may be invalidated entirely, as reported by G4 Media among other publications. Such an outcome would almost certainly result in more chaos and even potential unrest.

8. Rising Extremism

With parliamentary elections scheduled for December 1st, the current crisis is boosting the popularity of extremist and nationalist parties, which were already projected to achieve record-breaking results. Many fear that “the worst is yet to come.”

9. Over 90% of the votes have been counted

But the officials are silent about the results. Political parties give conflicting details: USR claims that, based on the re-count of the votes, Elena Lasconi has even more votes than anticipated compared to Marcel Ciolacu – around 4,500 according to G4Media reports.

However, PSD leaders claim that the difference is a lot lower, of just around 300 votes, according to Mediafax.

No official comments have been made so far, which makes me believe that they are waiting for the Parliamentary Elections to be over, as their decision, no matter which way it goes, could influence the results.

Reports claim that we will get some official statements at 10PM on December 1st, after the parliamentary elections. (source: Europa Libera)

According to some voices familiar with the matter, even though the numbers overall are slightly different, the order of the candidates has not changed – the requirements for invalidating the elections.

Important things to have in mind & why this is such a difficult situation and massive crisis

Romania is facing its most significant political crisis in decades, with the integrity of its presidential elections under scrutiny and fears of unrest mounting.

For starters, just to make things clear: if indeed Terhes’ claims that votes were illegally counted for Elena Lasconi, the invalidation of the elections makes complete sense and it is the democratic thing to do, no matter which of the candidates was “helped”.

At the same time, it’s worth noting that any recount will always be placed under the shadow of doubt, as there will most likely be claims that the recounting itself was not correctly made.

Next, there are plenty of other implications and reasons why this is a crisis never seen before in Romanian politics. Here’s why:

• The Constitutional Court’s decision to order a nationwide recount, rather than limiting it to the contested sections, has raised concerns about judicial impartiality and procedural fairness. This deepens the lack of the population’s trust in the Democratic Institutions.
• Invalidating the first round of elections or questioning the legitimacy of the results undermines the will of millions of voters who participated in good faith. This will boost anti-system voters (which are already aplenty) and ultimately boost the popularity of the extremists.
• Rising nationalist and extremist sentiments are clear in Romania – trends already on the rise in Europe. The crisis has further boosted extremist parties, such as AUR or SOS Romania, which are expected to perform strongly in the upcoming parliamentary elections. This polarization could lead to more radical and divisive politics, destabilizing the country in the long term.
• The chaotic handling of the election and the accusations of foul play have deepened public mistrust and heightened tensions. The rhetoric of political leaders, particularly references to destabilization and hatred, risks inciting further division among citizens. We’re already seeing protests and the situation could escalate quickly.
• The turmoil undermines Romania’s standing as a stable democracy in the European Union. Allegations of election tampering, judicial interference, and rising nationalism could alarm EU partners and international investors. Actually, Romania’s stock market has dropped heavily following the turmoil, as you can see below:

What you see above is Romania’s BET index, tracking the performance of the most liquid companies listed on the BVB’s regulated market (so basically the Romanian version of the S&P 500). It has plummeted from 17,678 points two weeks ago to 16,188 at the moment of writing (and still dropping). This is the lowest it has been since January 2024.

All in all, this crisis is a perfect storm of institutional distrust, political maneuvering, and social polarization, threatening to destabilize Romania at a pivotal moment.

With parliamentary elections on the horizon and extremist parties gaining momentum, the country faces a test of its democratic resilience – probably the biggest and most important test in the country’s modern history, since Nicolae Ceasusescu’s dictatorship was defeated (ironically, also in the month of december).