Thousands protest cancelled Romanian election ahead of repeat vote

BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Thousands of Romanians gathered in the capital Bucharest on Wednesday to protest the December cancellation of a presidential election and the banning of its far-right frontrunner from standing for office again.

The European Union and NATO member which borders Ukraine will repeat its two-round presidential election on May 4 and 18 after the Constitutional Court voided the initial ballot in December following accusations of Russian meddling in favour of far-right, pro-Russian frontrunner Calin Georgescu.

Earlier this month, it banned Georgescu from running again, and George Simion, leader of Romania's second largest party, the Alliance for Uniting Romanians (AUR), subsequently became the hard right's replacement candidate.

Georgescu, who turned 63 on Wednesday, has not publicly commented since he was disqualified and has stopped short of outright endorsing Simion.

Opinion surveys released earlier this month show Simion is poised to make it into the run-off vote on May 18.

Simion's AUR organised Wednesday's protest outside the government headquarters in downtown Bucharest, which saw several thousand people gather, shouting "Freedom" and "Thieves," waving flags and blowing vuvuzelas.

Separately, a competing pro-Georgescu rally saw several thousand more protesters gather.

"This fake government should fall. It has cut democracy and sold the country," said Claudiu Ghita, 62, a retired railroad worker. "I will vote for George Simion in May."

If a far-right candidate succeeds in swaying Georgescu's voters, it could determine whether another central European country swings closer to Moscow beside Hungary and Slovakia.

"Calin Georgescu is out, we will vote Simion. The ultranationalists have not been in power yet and we need peace," said Maria, who declined to give her last name. She was wearing a red Make America Great Again T-shirt and waving a giant Romanian flag.

The far right, which now holds 35% of parliament seats, has painted Romanian mainstream parties as beholden to covert Brussels interests, and has stoked fears that EU support for Ukraine in its defense against Russia will pull Romania into the war.

(Reporting by Luiza Ilie; Editing by Bill Berkrot)