Summary
Far-right populist Calin Georgescu led Romania’s presidential election with 22% of the vote, narrowly ahead of leftist Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu (21%), setting up a runoff on December 8.
Georgescu’s unexpected rise, driven by anti-establishment sentiment, has disrupted the political landscape.
His vague populist platform includes boosting local production and criticizing NATO. Analysts suggest his surge reflects voter dissatisfaction, with some suspecting potential Russian influence.
The election, marked by moderate turnout (52.4%), occurs amid economic challenges, high inflation, and tensions from Romania’s proximity to Ukraine’s war zone.
It’s the first round, unlike the US there’s a second round if no one gets 50% of the popular vote. Georgescu got 22.7%. The expectation is that Ciolacu will easily win the 2nd round.
Romania is a semi-presidential republic, with a mostly cerimonial president, and as such the president doesn’t have the power to rule by decree like in the US. So even if won it would be bad, but mostly symbolic.
The problem is that in a few weeks there’s also the parliamentary elections and there’ll be a push for the extremist parties which could help Georgescu. And I wouldn’t be that sure that Ciolacu would win easily in the second round.