The surprising outcome of the first round of Romania’s presidential election saw little-known right-wing candidate Calin Georgescu take the top spot with 22.9 percent of the vote, while Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, considered the favourite, dropped out of the race, results showed almost complete on Monday.
Georgescu is followed by centre-left Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu with 20.2 percent. Reformist candidate Elena Lasconi has 18 per cent, while another right candidate, George Simion, lags behind with 14.1 per cent support, according to data from 96 per cent of precincts.
An early exit poll suggested Lasconi was set to make it to the second round of the presidential election, but Georgescu’s numbers rose sharply on Sunday night, foreshadowing a result that is set to upend Romanian politics.
“The 35-year economic uncertainty imposed on the Romanian people has become today an uncertainty for the political parties,” Georgescu said in his first reaction after polls closed. He called the result a “surprising awakening” of the Romanian people.
Georgescu, an extremely religious man, campaigned on reducing Romania’s dependence on imports, supporting farmers and increasing domestic food and energy production. He also argued that the EU and NATO did not properly represent Romania’s interests and claimed that the conflict in Romania’s neighbouring Ukraine was the result of manipulation by US military companies.
In 2022, he argued that the US missile defence shield located in the southern Romanian village of Deveselu was part of a policy of confrontation rather than a peaceful measure. He said at the time that he had no support from Russia but felt close to its culture. Georgescu also said he admires Hungary because of its skill in international negotiations. Georgescu is a university professor and international consultant on sustainable development who has worked in various United Nations organisations for more than a dozen years.
He used TikTok to rally voters around him. “He managed to convince them with a combination of a messianic speech delivered elegantly to capitalise on people’s frustration,” said political analyst Radu Magdin. Georgescu has been mentioned several times over the past decade as a potential prime minister by various parties, including Simion’s AUR party.
Turnout nationally and among the Romanian diaspora was 52.5 per cent, slightly higher than the 51.2 per cent who voted in the previous presidential election in 2019. The second round of the presidential election is scheduled for December 8, following Romania’s parliamentary elections next Sunday.
