Calin Georgescu, an independent candidate close to AUR, won the first round of the presidential election, it was revealed after the counting of 99.9 percent of the votes. The exit polls also showed that Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu finished in first place.
Independent candidate Calin Georgescu, a university lecturer close to the Association for the Unification of Romanians (AUR), which is called extremist by other Romanian parties, received the most votes in the first round of the Romanian presidential election, partial results based on the summation of 99.9 percent of the votes cast show.
Unknown in mainstream politics, Georgescu, who publicly praised the leaders of the former Romanian fascist organization, the Iron Guard, who were convicted of war crimes, made it to the second round by collecting 22.93 percent of the votes cast at the end of the week.
According to the official data published on the website of the electoral authority (AEP), on Monday morning Elena Lasconi, the president of the opposition Save Romania Association (USR) with a total of 19.17 percent, beat Social Democratic Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu (19.15 percent) by 434 votes, so she can be Calin Georgescu his opponent in the second round of the presidential election on December 8.
The estimates published after the polls closed also showed that Elena Lasconi, the president of the opposition Save Romania Association (USR), who collected 18 percent of the votes, could be the opponent of Social Democratic Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, who collected 25 percent of the votes, in the second round, and Calin Georgescu was ranked third by 16 percent.
Calin Georgescu, in his televised statement after the publication of the exit poll results placing him in third place, evaluated the results of the elections as "an amazing awakening of self-awareness of the Romanian people".
"The Romanian people have decided that they are no longer willing to kneel, they will no longer tolerate occupation, oppression and humiliation. We are strong, we are brave, many of us went to vote, and there will be even more in the second round. Now what I said has been proven: we don't politicize, we write history," declared Calin Georgescu.
Before the presidential election, Georgescu, who campaigned exclusively on Internet social media sites, claimed in one of his posts that he comes from an Orthodox priestly family, with soldiers and historians among his ancestors. He himself graduated in agronomy and received a doctorate in soil improvement, and then - as an environmental specialist - pursued a diplomatic career. He also worked at the UN, and since 2021 he has been teaching at the University of Pitesti.
The Supreme Prosecutor's Office initiated ex officio criminal proceedings against Georgescu in 2022, when in the Antena 3 news television program, Corneliu Zelea Codreanu, the founder of the fascist Iron Guard between the two world wars, and Marshal Ion Antonescu, executed for war crimes, were among the heroes of the Romanian nation.
In 2020, during the government formation negotiations following the parliamentary elections, AUR proposed Calin Georgescu as Prime Minister. In 2022, they wanted to make him the honorary president of the party, but they stopped because the AUR did not want to enter into a political alliance with a man who glorifies anti-Semitic historical figures convicted of war crimes.
MTI
Cover image: Calin Georgescu finished first in the Romanian presidential election
Source: Facebook/Calin Georgescu
