Right-wing politician wins first round of presidential election in Romania
- 25 November, 12:06
A right-wing and pro-Russian independent candidate has won the first round of presidential race in Romania, raising questions about the country’s political path.
Călin Georgescu, 62, who is a critic of NATO, won with a 22.95% share of votes during the election held on Monday, although polls predicted that he would win less than 10% of the vote.
A prominent figure in the far-right party, Georgescu was followed by centre-right candidate Elena Lasconi of the Save Romania Union and populist social democrat Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, the pre-election favourite. Ciolacu tended his resignation as leader of the Social Democrats on Monday morning.
Georgescu’s victory marks the first time in Romania’s post-Communist history that the leftist social democrat party has not had a candidate in the second round of a presidential election.
Romania is a member of NATO and the European Union and has criticized Russia’s full-fledged invasion of Ukraine. Georgescu’s victory raises questions about Bucharest’s future stance over the Russia-Ukraine war as he has earlier stated that Romania's best chance lies with "Russian wisdom".
In a post made on his Facebook account, Georgescu said he voted "for the unjust, for the humiliated, for those who feel they do not matter and actually matter the most... the vote is a prayer for the nation". Georgescu had campaigned under the slogan "Restore the dignity of the Romanian nation”.
It should be noted that under the Romanian legislation, the president serves a five-year term and has significant decision-making powers.
