A recount of votes received in Sunday’s first runoff in Romania’s presidential election has been ordered by the country’s highest court following allegations that social media platform TikTok gave “special treatment” to surprise winner Calin Georgescu.
The Constitutional Court also rejected petitions filed by a pair of losers who accused Georgescu of illegally financing the campaign.
Georgescu, who did not have his own party, campaigned heavily on TikTok.
The platform has flatly denied that it favors a far-right, pro-Russian candidate.
Georgescu won 23% of the vote, and 19% for the runner-up, Elena Lasconi, from the opposition Save Romania Union.
Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu of the ruling Social Democrats came third.
The Central Election Bureau must now decide how to conduct the recount, with which personnel, and by what deadline.
A full recount is unprecedented in Romania’s post-Communist history.
As things stand, Georgescu is expected to face Lasconi in the qualifiers on December 8.
“Slaves fight by voting, not back games,” said Lasconi.
“I ask the Central Election Bureau to handle the duplication of votes wisely. The law must be the same for all, it cannot be interpreted differently for others.”
TikTok has also faced allegations that it did not respect the election rules of Romania’s top security agency, the Supreme Council of National Security.
Outgoing President Klaus Iohannis, who convened the council, said the forum “did not mark him as a political candidate”.
But TikTok has strongly denied the allegations.
“It is false that his account was treated differently than any other person,” the statement said.
“When the Romanian authorities contacted us to flag a number of videos without identifiers… we acted on those videos within 24 hours.”
Georgescu, for his part, dismissed criticism that he used social media illegally to gain an electoral advantage.
The 62-year-old has more than 330,000 followers – up from 30,000 two months ago – and more than 4m likes.
“The budget for this campaign was zero… I had a very small group – 10 people, no more. But we were left with millions of people. [us],” he told the BBC.
“I am not different – Romanians are different. Romanians need freedom. Real democracy means spirituality. God. Our land. Our property. Our soul. Our family.”
He added that state institutions are trying to deny people’s choice.
Anti-Georgescu protesters have already taken to the streets in Bucharest and several provincial towns, and Georgescu has urged his supporters to “stay at home with friends and family” and not react if provoked.
The Telecoms regulator in Romania, Ancom, has requested that TikTok be suspended pending an investigation by prosecutors into allegations of manipulation of the electoral process.
Romania’s National Audiovisual Council has also asked the European Commission to investigate how TikTok, which bans legal political advertising, was used in the election.
Romania will hold parliamentary elections this weekend, with far-right parties AUR and SOS Romania hoping for a boost in popularity after the presidential vote.
The members of the ruling party, the Social Democrats and the National Liberals, are disappointed – disappointed by the failure of their candidates in the presidential election.
Throughout Romania, as well as in many Romanian diaspora areas, there is an atmosphere of euphoria, despair, or just plain confusion.
Source link
