Calin Georgescu takes surprising lead in Romania’s presidential election
BUCHAREST – The independent candidate Calin Georgescu took an unexpected lead in the first round of Romania’s presidential election on Sunday, securing nearly 23% of the vote and surpassing two prominent contenders, the Electoral Commission reported on Monday.
With 99.9% of votes counted, independent hard-right politician Calin Georgescu garnered 22.95% of votes. Centre-right contender Elena Lasconi, leader of the opposition Save Romania Union, lay second with 19.2%.
The outcome was a huge shock, as pre-election opinion polls had made Social Democrat Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu the frontrunner.
Consequently, the Romanian premier announced he would resign as leader of the PSD party, adding that he would stay on as prime minister until the ballot ends.
“I have voted for the wronged, the humiliated, those who feel they do not matter in this world,” Georgescu said on Sunday. “Today, the vote is a prayer for the nation.”
Georgescu had been polling in single digits before the vote and ran a Tik Tok-driven campaign.
Romania, a southeast European country of 19 million, will hold a parliamentary election on Dec. 1, in which political analysts said hard-right groupings were likely to receive an electoral boost from Georgescu’s success.
