The system does not accept anyone outside it, said Calin Georgescu after the Constitutional Court's decision not to allow him to participate in the repeat presidential elections in May. He addressed the Romanian people in a video message that he posted on his official Facebook profile, quoted by BTA.
“This campaign has never been about me. What mattered to me was you, the people. It is not about the person Calin Georgescu. Anyone else could have been in my place. The system does not accept anyone outside it. That is why I have said that we are not changing the person, but the system. In practice, each of you in my place could become president, wishing the good of this country. "Of course, the system did not accept this idea and this discourse," Georgescu said. He posted the video an hour after Romania's Constitutional Court ruled unanimously that he could not run in the presidential election in May.
"Instead of saying that the country is full of milk and honey, as the politicians in the system claim, I stood before you and said that there is poverty and sadness right now and I do not want this for my people. I said that I want Romanians abroad to return home, and I think that by doing so I hurt the interests of the EU the most. Because they will not bring you back home," Georgescu stressed.
He also noted that no other candidate in this campaign has spoken about corruption.
"Why? In front of the system, when you speak the truth, you are making a revolution. They do not want to hear the truth because it hurts. And they want to censor us at all costs. And so we will live in their lie forever”, Georgescu also said.
He commented that six months ago he called on the Romanian people to wake up and that was his mission.
“My mission was to explain to you the reality we find ourselves in. My mission has been accomplished. The Romanian people woke up to save themselves. It is not the mission of one person to save the people. You are the ones who must choose what you want for the future”, Georgescu emphasized.
In the end, he noted that after everything that happened today in the Constitutional Court, and in recent months, he will continue to firmly defend freedom, democracy and peace.
“We are the people. We remain Romania”, said Georgescu in the finale.
Following the decision of the Constitutional Court of Romania that Calin Georgescu cannot run in the presidential elections in May, the remaining contenders for the post came out with comments on the social network "Facebook", quoted by BTA.
“Democracy comes with respect for people, laws, state institutions. I respect the right to opinion, to protest. But freedom of opinion does not mean freedom to destroy. Let us not forget, chaos means weakness”, commented the candidate of the ruling coalition, Crin Antonescu.
“Corrupt political parties, which have appointed incompetent people to public positions, are the main culprits for the chaotic situation we find ourselves in today. Today's decision of the Constitutional Court is a logical consequence of the decision to annul the elections of December 6. A weak state cannot prevent the annulment of the elections and cannot explain it with convincing evidence to all Romanians in three months”, wrote independent presidential candidate and current mayor of Bucharest, Nicosor Dan.
According to him, the mission of the future president will be to renew the fight against corruption and rebuild bridges in society.
“Finally, with God's help, we will win“, was Victor Ponta's first reaction. The former prime minister, who recently removed himself from the Social Democratic Party and announced that he would run for president as an independent, wrote on his social media page that the fight for Romania and Romanians never ends.
Earlier this evening, Romania's Constitutional Court ruled definitively and unanimously that Calin Georgescu cannot run in the presidential elections in May. "The system does not accept anyone outside it," was Georgescu's first reaction. "You are not Romanians," "Justice," "Bring back the second round," chanted his supporters outside the parliament building, while the constitutional judges were sitting inside.
The unanimous decision of the judges of the Constitutional Court regarding Calin Georgescu's candidacy in the presidential elections closes an extremely tense and dangerous episode that Romania has experienced in recent months, Romanian Prime Minister and Chairman of the Social Democratic Party Marcel Ciolacu wrote on his official Facebook profile, quoted by BTA.
“The fact that Romanians, dissatisfied with this decision, have shown that they can protest peacefully, makes me believe that we have the resources to return to a normal social climate, in which everyone has the right to express their point of view in a civilized public debate“, added Ciolacu.
This evening, the judges of the Constitutional Court of Romania unanimously rejected the appeal filed by Calin Georgescu, upholding the decision of the Central Electoral Bureau to annul his candidacy for the presidential elections in May.
The Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued a position on yesterday's statement by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, BTA reported.
“Dmitry Peskov's statement is unacceptable, but it is in line with the systematic efforts of the Russian Federation to manipulate and interfere in the democratic processes in Romania. The Kremlin finds itself failing, hence the disappointment. Russia has not had free elections in almost 20 years. An aggressor state cannot give lessons in democracy, the Romanian Foreign Ministry's position states.
“Romania has already responded directly to foreign interference by sending home those who maintained contact with a paramilitary group (of Nazi origin) associated with a candidate who was trying to overthrow the constitutional democratic order in Romania”, the document also notes.
Yesterday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists in Moscow that the Romanian authorities' decision to bar Calin Georgescu from the presidential elections delegitimizes the electoral process.
“Of course, against this background, if we call things by their proper names, any elections held without him (Georgescu) will be illegitimate”, Peskov said.
Far-right Calin Georgescu unexpectedly came first in the first round of presidential elections in Romania in late November. However, on December 6, the Constitutional Court annulled the elections due to an intelligence report that indicated evidence of Russian interference in the electoral process.
This evening, Romania's Constitutional Court ruled definitively that Calin Georgescu cannot run in the presidential elections in May.