A pro-Russian candidate created a surprise on Sunday in the first round of the presidential election in Romania by collecting as many votes as the head of the pro-European government, according to results covering 85% of the ballots counted.
A pro-Russian candidate whom polls placed at less than 10% voting intentions created a surprise on Sunday in the first round of the presidential election in Romania. According to results covering 85% of the ballots counted, Calin Georgescu received as many votes as pro-European Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, or nearly 22% against 21.6% for his rival. If this trend continues, he will qualify for the second round.
Marcel Ciolacu, 56, thanked his voters for giving him a first place, a result “crystal clear”while calling for waiting for the full count to know who he will face on December 8. Ms. Lasconi, a 52-year-old former journalist converted to politics, also called for caution. “The scores are very close, it is not yet time to celebrate”she said.
On the far right, the leader of the AUR (Alliance for the Unity of Romanians) party George Simion, 38, who was predicted to be second, is currently fourth. However, he did not admit defeat. “We will see the results of the polls”he declared, promising “two more battles”during the legislative elections on December 1 and a week later for the second round of the presidential election.
The far right “big winner”
“The far right is by far the big winner of this election”political scientist Cristian Pirvulescu commented for AFP, stressing that she had won almost a third of the votes. It is an upheaval for this country of 19 million inhabitants which has until now resisted nationalist postures, distinguishing itself from Hungary or Slovakia.
With his passionate speech with mystical and conspiratorial overtones, George Simion, fan of Donald Trump, capitalized on the distress of a part of the population impoverished by high inflation. As for his rival Mr. Georgescu, he owes his score to a TikTok campaign that went viral, focused on the need to stop aid to Ukraine. “Tonight, the Romanian people cried out for peace. And he shouted very loudly, extremely loudly.he reacted.
After ten years in power of Klaus Iohannis, a fervent supporter of kyiv who had become very unpopular due in particular to his expensive trips abroad financed with public money, voters therefore set their sights on three anti-system candidates, behind the prime minister. In Bucharest, several residents told AFP their desire to “change, to finally see things moving”like Andreea Irimie, a 29-year-old teacher, who came to vote on a cold sunny Sunday, others citing their fear of war.
A coalition that promises to be difficult
Romania, sharing a 650-kilometer border with Ukraine and bordered by the Black Sea, plays a strategic role «vital»recalls in a study by the New Strategy Center think tank. Both for NATO, of which it houses more than 5,000 soldiers, and for the transit of Ukrainian cereals.
With these good scores in the presidential election, the extreme right should benefit from“a contagion effect” in the legislative elections on December 1, between the two rounds of the presidential election, predicts Mr. Parvulescu. Which bodes difficult negotiations to form a coalition.
The social democrats, heirs of the former communist party which has structured the country's political life for more than three decades, currently govern in coalition with the liberals of the PNL.
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