Romania's hard-right election front-runner Simion seeks to capitalize on voters' discontent
BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Sitting at a desk inside Romania’s sprawling Parliament building in the capital, presidential front-runner George Simion accuses the current government of attacking democracy and says he is the only candidate who hasn’t been tainted by holding power.
The 38-year-old leader of the hard-right nationalist Alliance for the Unity of Romanians, or AUR, won a landslide in Romania’s first-round presidential election redo on Sunday and will face pro-Western reformist Nicusor Dan in a runoff on May 18.
He says his success proves that voters are ready for change, and insists that is what he represents. “I am a person who was never in government, and was never partners with those who made this … coup d’etat against the will of the people,” he told The Associated Press on Tuesday in an interview in the Palace of the Parliament building in Bucharest.
Romania’s political landscape was shaken last year when a top court voided the previous election in which the far-right outsider Calin Georgescu topped the first round, following allegations of electoral violations and Russian interference, which Moscow has denied.
https://apnews.com/article/george-simion-romania-presidency-election-hard-right-5b9024e8f17546e21a30fdb4ffea0b36