The Robot Who Won the Elections

A important note to the reader:

Since the article was published, the Romanian Constitutional Court has canceled the elections. Everyone is confused, and the future is uncertain.

“Who’s that?” was the first reaction most Romanians had at the news that Călin Georgescu, an independent who barely registered in pre-election polling, won the November 24 first round with about 22 percent of the vote. Some say that he's a Russian agent, others say that he’s a far-right product of the system, and the ex-president, Traian Băsescu, says that he’s a robot. Regardless, since the morning of 25th of December, Romanians no longer need soap operas, there’s enough passion, betrayal and drama on the news.

So who is Călin Georgescu and how has his victory in the first round thrown Romania into a crisis?

Although he is posing as a  “man from outside the system”, Georgescu’s public persona does not seem to match his CV. Călin Georgescu is at his origin an engineer who, after the Revolution, held various positions in the Ministry of Environment and in the Ministry of External Affairs. Beyond this, between 2010 and 2012, he was a special rapporteur in the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, followed by a role as executive director of the Global Sustainable Index Institute between 2015 and 2016. 

Following the victory of the anti-establishment and sovereignist party, AUR, in 2020, he was proposed as AUR’s candidate for the prime-minister position. Yet, the love between Georgescu and AUR was short-lived. In 2022, the two parted ways in part due to his expressed admiration towards two very controversial figures from the interwar period and in part because Georgescu weeps for joy whenever the Russian president, Vladimir Putin speaks. Thus, he went on to run in the presidential elections all by himself, and run he did. 

Dressed in traditional clothes, on a white horse, Călin Georgescu rode past the candidates of the biggest Romanian political parties (PSD, USR, PNL and AUR). Fear spread across the nation and beyond. Fear that Romania might be going down a path of isolation from the EU and NATO, fear that he might undermine democracy, fear that foreign investors might leave, and in the case of Social-Democratic party (PSD), fear that it might be losing power. 

Historically one of the most pro-European and pro-NATO countries, Romania relies on its spot in the two alliances for its economic and national security. Many Romanians work in other EU countries, Romania benefits from foreign investors from within the EU, and the Russian threat is close to the border.  While there are many more elements which tie Romania to the EU and to NATO, these are more than enough to explain why the victory of presidential candidate who has described the anti-missile shield from Deveselu (built with NATO support) as a “provocation” to Russia, may raise the eyebrows of the civil society and foreign allies. 

PSD, the main political party in the country, also bet on the Romanians’ current desire for stability, opting for the slogan “The safe route for Romania”. However, their calculation that a corrupt candidate would be preferred to a dubious entity like Călin Georgescu, was proven wrong. PSD’s horse in the presidential race, the prime minister Marcel Ciolacu, did not reach the second round, positioning himself in third place, behind USR’s candidate, Elena Lasconi. This is a first in the over 30 years since the Revolution. Losing to an independent candidate and a woman from a much smaller party is shameful and causes fears of losing relevance.

All these fears materialized in protests against Georgescu from the civil society and in the demand for a recounting of the votes from the Romanian Constitutional Court (CCR). 

Then, this begs the question, if Romanians didn’t know who Georgescu was, and if the reaction to his triumph was so negative, how did we get here?

Long story short is that a nation’s frustrations when mixed with TikTok make for a deadly cocktail. Firstly, Georgescu’s campaign didn’t happen in a void. Romanians were, putting it mildly, dissatisfied with the main political parties, which ruled together in different forms since the Revolution, PSD and the Liberal Party (PNL), for quite a while. Despite PSD being traditionally classified as left wing and PNL being classified as right-wing, these classifications might not translate well for an external observer. Both parties are essentially offshoots of the Romanian Communist Party (PCR), with the difference that PSD is more economically left-leaning and socially conservative, while PNL is more economically right and traditionally more pro-West. Since then, the members of PSD have been involved in the biggest corruption scandals in the country and have repeatedly made moves to undermine democracy in order to consolidate its power. Once a pro-EU, pro-NATO alternative to PSD, PNL destroyed its reputation during the mandate of the current president, Klaus Iohannis, by partnering up with PSD in the government. 

On top of this already tainted image of PSD and PNL, came the higher than EU average inflation and a justice scandal. As such Romanians got fed up and began to turn to anti-establishment options. And then along came AUR and Georgescu. In a way, his victory should not seem that much of a surprise. Romania has been under the looming threat of extremism for a few years, and it was only a matter of time until a truly radical figure would emerge. If, until now, Romania was not as affected by the far-right virus as the Western Nations, it has become clear that no country where inequality is so evident can be immune. In the last couple of years specifically, nationalistic sentiment has surged, driven by the string of disappointments caused by the ruling coalition.

The sovereignty movement in Romania came under the spotlight with the foundation of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians Party (AUR) in 2020. They advertised a stronger and more “independent” country through plans of reducing the EU’s influence on Romania and championing the idea of the “traditional family”. Even back then, their fame was amplified through overzealous tiktok videos and livestreams. They gained a strong following that believed this newly founded party would be their rescue and would challenge the Social Democrats’ reign as the most influential organisation in the parliament. Soon, calls for greater autonomy from the European Union became a frequent topic in parliamentary debates.

Populism in Romania came as a reaction to an uneven democratization process that has been taking place since the abolishment of the communist regime in 1989. While large cities have experienced considerable growth, the rest of the country is slowly trying to keep up, but failing. Because of this, a large part of the population feels that their interests are misrepresented by “the elites” in the parliament. The same goes for the diaspora, who have always inclined towards “anti-system” candidates due to feelings of exclusion and resentment towards their home country. That is why the ultra-nationalist parties often appeal to the sense of isolation and perceived injustice felt by the people outside the urban area, without actually offering any solution – and it usually works. Furthermore, Romania does not face a migrant crisis like Western European nations, so the sovereign movement emerges as a categorical rejection of any ethical or sexual minority in an effort to restore traditionalist values.

After hearing Călin Georgescu deliver his sermon it’s quite easy to identify a few key points: all of his speeches are centered around “the people”, God, dignity and peace. He is constantly mentioning the idea that he was appointed by God himself to run as president, in an eerie, messaic tone. Once the results of the first round were announced, he even said that the Romanian people “responded to the divine call” by voting for him. Taking into account Romania’s large Orthodox population, he was able to secure a large voter base on this reasoning alone. 

A quick look into his presidential manifesto tells us everything we need to know about his ideology: his proposals are nothing but populist cliches rephrased to fit the national context. His program is entitled “FOOD, WATER AND ENERGY - A return to the roots of the Romanian people” (yes, with caps lock) and mentions that it embodies the application of “christian vision in the real economy”. True to his signature approach, it feels more like a mystical prophecy than a real action plan. In his own words:

 “Through the spirit of love, the saints, national heroes, and great cultural figures become living “icons,” opening the higher qualitative space of true freedom. In this space, we are united with all those who, throughout time, have borne witness to the Truth, and we experience the joy of a new way of existence.”

The preamble is strong and evocative, starting off by emphasising the need for individual wellbeing of the Romanian people and introducing the concept of “Sovereignist-distributism”, a socio-economic model that Georgescu himself conceived. Sovereignist-distributism envisions a society where workers control the means of production, the “traditional family” serves as its foundation, and the “authentic Romanian producer” is upheld as a model of virtue.

The idea of the small business owner is a leitmotif of his agenda: small and medium-sized productive ownership is said to be the key towards the “re-sovereignization of the individual”, but also the solution for an improved democracy . It seems that Georgescu is determined to capitalise on the frustrations of the rural population by floating around ideas of popular banks and cooperatives as a means to escape poverty. 

Education has long been a weak spot for Romania. The country has the lowest spending per student of all EU member states and citizens are aware of the implications this incurs. Georgescu’s educational reform is centered around two pillars: first, he believes that Romania would benefit from having more vocational schools, as it would help to “re-professionalise the country from the ground up”. He promises to make large investments in art schools and technical schools alike, as well as in research and cutting-edge technology. Secondly, he proposes the concept of a “national school” built on a foundation of nationalist interests and “rooted in unwavering nationalism”. While he does not mention any proper measures, he insists on promoting the right role models for the students, such as cultural, artisanal and rural icons. It sounds like Georgescu longs for a neo-agrarianisation of the education system.

It was not easy to piece together concrete information about his views on foreign policy, although it is evident that the collaboration with the EU is not on his list of priorities. In his view, Romania must become a central figure of Europe because it is “far superior” to all other nations in terms of natural resources and geographical positioning. He has a very strong stance on resource autonomy as “natural resources are neither privatizable nor for sale.” While Georgescu does not directly mention the EU or NATO, it is mentioned that Romania will respect its obligations to international alliances as long as they respect their obligations towards Romania. 

There are many mysteries that arise throughout his program: he calls for a “Grand National Revival” but never mentions what that is exactly, he has planned a major monetary reform although he has no authority over it and wishes to take advantage of EU funds for agriculture while attributing green policies to the “globalist oligarchy”. 

With a quiver full of classic populist tropes, Georgescu, then, managed to gain traction by buying bots on TikTok to have his name mentioned on clips of other candidates in order to trick the algorithm. This tactic was so efficient that it granted him the victory, while a large portion of the country did not know who he was. It is as the president, Traian Băsescu said: “We almost elected a president without seeing him in flesh and blood, a president made by robots.”  Romania is now accusing TikTok of election interference. 

What now?

The second round of the elections is coming up on the 8th of December. After a week of suspense, CCR has validated the results of the first round. It will all come down to a final battle between Călin Georgescu and Elena Lasconi. Even though Lasconi isn’t a dream come true for Romanians either, at least she is harmless. Whatever happens, there will be an interesting dynamic between the president and the parliament, one that will be worth watching. 

P.S. For the Romanians: You can still vote on the special lists even if you didn’t register beforehand. So...vote.