Romania barred far-right front-runner Calin Georgescu from running in May’s presidential election, in a move that could worsen the country’s political turmoil.

The Bucharest-based electoral bureau invalidated Georgescu’s candidacy, a spokesman from the bureau said on Sunday. It received more than 1,000 challenges to Georgescu’s candidacy mostly related to his anti-democratic and extremist stances. The decision can still be appealed at the Constitutional Court.

The decision to eliminate Georgescu from the May 4 presidential race will likely deepen Romania’s anti-establishment mood and benefit the far-right. Polls showed that had Georgescu run, he would’ve garnered between 40% and 45% of the vote.

“Everyone is watching Romania and how the corrupt system acted,” Georgescu said on Friday, adding that he thinks it’s impossible for his name not to be on the ballot’s list of candidates.

After Georgescu unexpectedly won the first round of last year’s presidential election, the top court annulled the result of the vote.

— Bloomberg