Eleven candidates out of the 26 who filed their candidacies for the Cotroceni Presidential Palace will compete for the highest office at the May presidential elections.

As of Thursday, the candidacies are final, after all the stages and deadlines provided for by the election calendar have been completed, so that the 11 names will be on the ballot paper.

On May 4, voters will have to choose between the following candidates:

* Nicusor Dan (independent)

* Crin Antonescu (Romania Forward Alliance)

* Victor Ponta (independent)

* Elena Lasconi (Save Romania Union, USR)

* George Simion (the Alliance for the Union of Romanians, AUR)

* Lavinia Sandru (the Social Liberal Humanist Party, PUSL)

* Cristian Terhes (Romanian National Conservative Party)

* John-Ion Banu-Muscel (independent)

* Silviu Predoiu (National Action League Party)

* Daniel Funeriu (independent)

* Sebastian-Constantin Popescu (New Romania Party)

A special situation was the case of the president of the Young People's Party (POT), Anamaria Gavrila, who was given the green light by the Central Electoral Bureau (BEC) and the Constitutional Court of Romania (CCR) to run, but decided on Wednesday evening to withdraw from the race in favor of AUR leader George Simion, who remains the candidate of the sovereigns. 'In order to give the sovereignist movement, supported by Romanians, the best chances, I chose to withdraw from this race. I have done everything that depended on me in this struggle and I have confidence in the decision that was made. (...) We, the POT, have ensured the certainty of having a second candidate who will pass through the CCR and BEC filter. Dear Romanians, this mission is about us all and about our freedom,' she wrote on Facebook.

At the same time, in the case of two of the candidates on the final list - Sebastian-Constantin Popescu, proposed by the New Romania Party, and John-Ion Banu-Muscel (independent) - the Central Electoral Bureau has notified the criminal prosecution bodies in order to establish the authenticity of the lists of supporters who accompanied the candidates.

Five candidates - Elena Lasconi, George Simion, Cristian Terhes, Silviu Predoiu and Sebastian-Constantin Popescu - entered the electoral race in last year's presidential elections, the USR leader having succeeded in reaching the second round with the independent Calin Georgescu, elections that were annulled by the Constitutional Court.

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Among the candidates rejected by BEC for the May elections are Calin Georgescu and SOS Romania president Diana Sosoaca.

As regards Calin Georgescu, the Central Electoral Bureau explained in its decision of March 9 that it had taken into account the fundamental aspects 'already decided' by the Constitutional Court in its decision to reject the his candidacy.

The BEC also referred to a decision of the CCR in its reasons for rejecting Diana Sosoaca's candidacy, as she failed to enter the presidential race last year. 'As long as the Constitutional Court has already ruled by Decision 2/2024, in relation to this electoral cycle, with regard to the attitudes, behaviors, and positions of this candidate, finding that they are contrary to constitutional principles and values, the Central Electoral Bureau is obliged to give effect to the aspects ruled by the Constitutional Court,' shows BEC.

The BEC decisions in the case of the two were challenged at the CCR, but the Court did not rule in their favour.

The exit of Calin Georgescu from the race led to the filing of candidacies by George Simion (AUR) and Anamaria Gavrilă (POT), his supporters, which were also challenged at CCR, but the two remained in the electoral competition. Afterwards, Anamaria Gavrila announced her withdrawal from the fight for the Cotroceni office.

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BEC also rejected the candidacies of 11 other candidates, the main reason being the lack of the minimum number of supporting signatures: the rector of SNSPA, Remus Pricopie, Petru Mindru (independent), Maria Marcu (independent), Ion Popa (independent), Matei Vanea (independent), Paul Ispas (independent), Constantin Vieriu (independent), Oana Crețu (United Social Democratic Party), Gelu Dragan (independent), Constantin Titian Filip (independent), Gicu-Romeo Tita (independent).

In the case of Petru Mindru and Maria Marcu, the BEC had to reject their candidacy several times, as they submitted their files three and four times respectively, but without complying with the conditions required by law.

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Within 48 hours from the date of the final decision - March 22 - the order in which the candidates will be placed on the ballot paper will be decided.

The election campaign begins on April 4 and ends on May 3 at 07:00. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Georgiana Tanasescu; EN - writing by: Simona Iacob)