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Supporters of Calin Georgescu threw stones and bottles at riot police in Bucharest after the Central Election Bureau voted to bar the right-wing, pro-Russian candidate from competing in upcoming presidential polls.

The Central Election Bureau voted 10-4 to bar Georgescu, saying his candidacy did not meet the legal requirements and that he had “violated the very obligation to defend democracy”.

Georgescu condemned the decision as a “direct blow to the heart of democracy worldwide”. He now has 24 hours from Sunday’s ruling to file an official appeal with Romania’s Constitutional Court, which is expected to issue a decision on Wednesday at the latest.

  • misk@sopuli.xyzEnglish
    13·
    1 day ago

    I’m not putting a label on Trump because he has few core beliefs but many whims. People like him and what’s called far right are not playing the traditional political game anymore and produce extreme ambiguity on purpose (those weird nazi salutes are a part of this). That’s because while we debate if Elon is a nazi (he is) or if Trump is a nazi (he’s not), they get to continue doing their business and with how systems and taxes are built that’s the only thing they need to do to continue gaining money (which now equals power).

    Regardless of where either of us would personally draw it, surely the existing point at which that line was drawn in Romania before the election should matter? That’s what the Romanian courts ruled that the influence campaign had crossed over. Whether it’s in the best place or not, just one of several sides covertly stepping over it clearly creates a huge advantage for that side

    Western watchdogs, Venice commission and various NGOs don’t see it like that. It was done arbitrarily, based on confidential information and without a right to appeal. I get that many people sigh with relief but this thing should have been done honestly, with heavy burden of what this really means long term and therefore with a plan to make things right. I’m pretty sure nobody is going to make things right because it was done so that things could remain the same. And they remain the same because that way the rich continue getting richer, which is a point I’m circling back to because it’s so important. We are now at decades of this trend and we’re getting dangerously close to going back to feudalism which is the absolute worst that could happen, worse than fascism even imo.

    • Skua@kbin.earth
      1·
      7 hours ago

      Venice commission

      I can’t speak to the others you mentioned because I don’t know which ones you mean, but this one isn’t true. The Venice Commission’s report ( https://www.venice.coe.int/webforms/documents/?pdf=CDL-PI(2025)001-e ) includes:

      1. It is not for the Venice Commission to go into the facts of the case, or into the examination of the decision by the Romanian Constitutional Court. The question put to the Venice Commission by the Parliamentary Assembly is of a general nature, and it refers to an analysis of general comparative constitutional law and European and international standards. This is the basis on which the Venice Commission will respond to this request.

      And reiterates that in the conclusion:

      1. It is not for the Venice Commission to go into the facts of the case, or into the examination of the decision by the Romanian Constitutional Court. The question put to the Venice Commission by the Parliamentary Assembly is of a general nature, and it refers to an analysis of general comparative constitutional law and European and international standards.

      They - rightly, in my opinion - extensively discuss how serious a matter it is to annul an election. However, what they were actually asked for was not a ruling on Georgescu’s case, but rather a more general view:

      Under which conditions and under which legal standards can a constitutional court invalidate elections, drawing from the recent Romanian case?

      They give a list of recommendations of when it might be appropriate and how it should be done. They do not say that Romania acted improperly, nor say that such annulments are never appropriate.

      The European Court of Human Rights very firmly rejected Georgescu’s claims as well https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng#{“itemid”:[“001-242417”]}

      I’m not responding to the other stuff not because I mean to ignore it or because I have no response, rather just that I think we’ve got a difference of opinion that’s too subjective for either of us to meaningfully persuade the other. I do understand where you’re coming from, even if we arrive at different conclusions.