Potra was referring to a decision by Romania’s Central Election Bureau on Sunday to block Georgescu from running for the presidency in May.
The bureau said Georgescu had violated Romania’s election rules while coming out of nowhere to win the first round of the presidential vote last November, partly on the back of a wildly successful TikTok campaign. The Constitutional Court later annulled his victory, flagging undeclared campaign financing and fraudulent use of digital technologies, with an alleged Russian operation seen as having influenced the result.
Georgescu has appealed the bureau’s decision.
Shortly after Sunday’s announcement, scores of Georgescu supporters clashed with riot police in downtown Bucharest, throwing rocks, firecrackers and bottles, and injuring some police officers who responded to the unrest with tear gas.
Tech billionaire Elon Musk and other allies of United States President Donald Trump have joined in the chorus, slamming Georgescu’s barring as undemocratic and “crazy.”
Potra, a figure in local Romanian politics and the former leader of a mercenary group that operated in Africa, was detained on weapons and public incitement charges in December after allegedly planning a Jan. 6-style plot in the country after the initial presidential election was annulled.
