The decision of the Central Electoral Bureau of Romania to reject the candidacy of Calin Georgescu in the presidential election caused chaos in Bucharest on Sunday evening. After the decision was announced, tension among Georgescu's supporters gathered in front of the bureau building escalated and reached its peak shortly before midnight.
Scenes of violence also took place in the Old Center, where demonstrators threw stones and bottles at police and journalists, set fire to bushes, trash cans and overturned a car belonging to the Romanian television station Digi24. The situation calmed down only at 02:00 in the morning. A criminal case has been opened against the protesters who overturned the car, the police announced.
The Central Electoral Bureau motivated its decision with that of the Constitutional Court from October last year. It states that presidential candidates should fulfill the oath taken by the elected president of Romania from the moment of their candidacy, namely "to respect the constitution and defend democracy". On the grounds that she does not respect the constitution and does not defend democracy, in October last year the Constitutional Court rejected the presidential candidacy of the MEP and leader of the far-right party "SOS Romania" Diana Soshoaca.
Information also appeared in the Romanian media that another reason for the bureau's decision was the lack of a signature on Georgescu's income declaration. He was briefly detained in late February and is currently under investigation on six charges, including membership in a fascist organization and falsely declaring his campaign finances.