Toni Grebla, the head of the Permanent Electoral Authority, appears in images alongside one of Călin Georgescu’s close associates, Constantin Lupu, and the president of AUR, George Simion, writes the daily Adevărul, which publishes several photos. The images appear in the context in which Călin Georgescu declared zero campaign expenses, and the AEP and BEC very late launched an investigation into the financing of the candidate’s electoral promotion. Constantin Lupu is father of the owner of the villa in Izvorani in front of which Călin Georgescu gave press statements after winning the first round of the presidential elections.
Several non-governmental organizations, members and non-affiliated of the Coalition “NGOs for the Citizen”, are demanding the resignation of Toni Greblă, the president of the Permanent Electoral Authority, after photos of him with supporters of Călin Georgescu appeared in the press, and his wife shared a video in favor of the independent candidate. These “again call into question the impartiality and integrity” of the head of the AEP, the organizations say.
“Adevărul newspaper presents images from a private party, from December 2022, which Mr. Greblă attended with people close to the Alliance for the Unity of Romanians. These people are suspected of legionary sympathies, incompatible with democracy and the rule of law. Today, we learn that these people are found in the entourage of candidate Călin Georgescu, who reached the second round of the presidential elections, a candidate accused even by state institutions of being supported by a hostile state actor, propagating fascist ideas and denying provisions of the Constitution. The home where the private meeting took place is exactly the informal campaign headquarters of the respective candidate. Moreover, one of the people next to whom Toni Greblă appears in these images is financially and politically connected with people close to pro-Russian parties in the Republic of Moldova, as revealed by the publications Snoop and Captura,” the statement says.
The President of the AEP, Toni Greblă, stated on Thursday evening, on Digi24, that the photos were taken two or three years ago. “I met Mr. Lupu when he was vice-president of the Authority for Dual Education, he is also a university professor. On this occasion, he organized a pig slaughter, invited a few acquaintances, including champion Moroșanu. I stayed there for a few hours, at that event. I never met Mr. Georgescu, I never spoke to him, I never went to an event with him,” said Toni Greblă. The head of the AEP also said that the Authority he leads has fulfilled its duties equidistantly. “The AEP has fulfilled its duties equidistantly. I had no way of knowing 2 or 3 years ago that these people would be in the entourage of some candidates. On other occasions I have worked alongside Mircea Geoană, with Mrs. Birchal, with Mr. Ciucă or with Prime Minister Ciolacu. Incidentally, I do not know Mr. Georgescu”, the head of AEP also said.
“The Aktual24 publication publishes images showing that Mr. Greblă’s wife, Mrs. Mihaela Greblă, is distributing electoral propaganda materials through social media, for exactly the same Călin Georgescu, a candidate at the center of serious accusations made by state institutions,” the NGOs also say.
The head of the AEP, retorted to a post by his wife, Mihaela Greblă, on Facebook, dated November 26, in which she shared a video clip with Călin Georgescu, an extremist candidate in the presidential elections. The President of the Permanent Electoral Authority says that “my wife lives in Târgu Jiu, and I in Bucharest”. “She doesn’t have her phone with her, because I also found out about this investigation that you did and she didn’t answer me… (…) My wife may have sympathies, including political ones”, he adds.
According to the signatories of the open letter, “in both cases, the explanations provided by Mr. Greblă were insufficient and attempted to minimize the seriousness of the facts presented. The president of the institution organizing the elections has the duty to avoid any situation that would question his integrity and neutrality”.
“We recall that the Permanent Electoral Authority, the institution headed by Mr. Greblă, did not give any relevant response to the repeated requests of independent organizations, also supported by numerous citizens, regarding the clarification of inconsistencies in the financial reports of the same candidate. The campaign of the candidate in question claims to have a zero budget, given that it is clearly a massive and expensive propaganda operation in the online environment. Also, the AEP stopped publishing data on financial reports from November 8 to 25 without explanation, affecting the transparency of the electoral process. In the context of the recent elections in the Republic of Moldova, where massive fraud related to campaign financing took place, we would have expected the institution to be prepared to verify as quickly as possible, on its own initiative, cases that significantly affect the integrity of the electoral process,” the statement added.