Romania’s political scene is in shock after a little-known far-right populist defeated the incumbent prime minister in the first round of the presidential election, according to electoral results released Monday.
In two weeks, reformist Elena Lasconi will compete in a runoff against independent Calin Georgescu.
After almost every ballot was counted, Georgescu, 62, had about 22.95% of the vote and was in the lead. With 19.17%, Lasconi of the progressive Save Romania Union party, or USR, came next. She narrowly defeated Social Democratic Party, or PSD, incumbent Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, who had 19.15% of the vote. The far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians, or AUR, was led by George Simion, who received 13.87% of the vote.
The PSD has never had a candidate in the second round of a presidential election in Romania’s 35-year post-communist history. This is a severe setback to the nation’s most dominant party and highlights the anti-establishment feeling of the electorate.
The Central Election Bureau reports that 9.4 million persons, or 52.5% of eligible voters, have cast ballots after polls closed on Sunday. On December 8, the second round of voting will take place. In Romania’s sizable diaspora, Georgescu, 62, received 43.3% of the vote, while Lasconi received 26.8%.
He was expected to receive fewer than 10% of the vote, according to the majority of local polls.
In nations that are members of the European Union and NATO, the president has broad decision-making authority over matters including foreign policy, national security, and judicial nominations. The president is in office for a five-year term.
Georgescu declared in a Facebook post that he had cast his ballot on Sunday. Voting is a national prayer for the unfair, the degraded, and those who believe they are unimportant but are actually the most important.
Georgescu has a doctorate in pedology, a field of soil science, and worked at Romania’s environment ministry in the 1990s, according to his website. He served as Romania’s representative on the UN Environment Program’s country committee from 1999 until 2012.
Although he lacks a clear political purpose, his TikTok videos have received 1.7 million likes, indicating their popularity.
But when he plays Lasconi, his growing popularity will be put to the test.
Former journalist and USR leader Lasconi has been campaigning on a reformist platform against corruption. Prior to the vote, she told The Associated Press that she believed corruption to be one of Romania’s main issues and that she supported higher defense spending as well as ongoing assistance to Ukraine. She will become Romania’s first female president if she wins the final vote.
On December 1, Romania will also hold parliamentary elections to choose the nation’s next prime minister and administration.
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