Romania in shock after a far-right populist enters presidential runoff with most votes

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Romania’s political landscape is reeling after a little-known, far-right populist secured the first round in the presidential election, going from an obscure candidate to beating the incumbent prime minister.

Calin Georgescu, who ran independently, will face off against reformist Elena Lasconi in a Dec. 8. runoff.

Georgescu, 62, was ahead after nearly all ballots were counted with around 22.95% of the vote.

Lasconi, of the progressive Save Romania Union party, or USR, followed with 19.17%. She beat by a slim margin incumbent Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu of the Social Democratic Party, or PSD, who stood at 19.15%. George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians took 13.87%.

It is the first time in Romania’s 35-year post-communist history for the PSD not to have a candidate in the second round of a presidential race, serving a huge blow to the country’s most powerful party and underscoring voters’ anti-establishment sentiment. Ciolacu’s shocking defeat prompted him to submit his resignation as party leader on Monday.

After polls closed on Sunday, 9.4 million people — about 52.5% of eligible voters — had cast ballots, according to the Central Election Bureau. Georgescu won 43.3% of the vote in Romania’s large diaspora, compared to Lasconi who got 26.8%.

Most local surveys predicted he would win less than 10% of the vote.

Nicolae Ciuca, a former army general and president of the center-right National Liberal Party, also resigned as party leader on Monday after obtaining just 8.7% of the vote.

The president serves a five-year term in the European Union and NATO member country and has significant decision-making powers in areas such as national security, foreign policy and judicial appointments.

After casting his ballot on Sunday, Georgescu said in a post on Facebook that 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.”

According to his website, Georgescu holds a doctorate in pedology, a branch of soil science, and held different positions in Romania’s environment ministry in the 1990s. Between 1999 and 2012, he was a representative for Romania on the national committee of the United Nations Environment Program.

Despite not having a clear political agenda, his videos on TikTok are popular, amassing 1.7 million likes.

But his rising popularity will be tested when he faces Lasconi.

Lasconi, a former journalist and the leader of the USR, has been running on an anti-corruption reformist agenda.

She told The Associated Press ahead of the vote that she saw corruption as one of Romania’s biggest problems and expressed support for increased defense spending and continued aid to Ukraine. If she wins the final vote, she will be the first female president in Romania’s history.

Romania will also hold parliamentary elections on Dec. 1 that will determine the country’s next government and prime minister.

Stephen Mcgrath, The Associated Press