Right-wing candidate Calin Georgescu will face centre-right contender Elena Lasconi in a December 8 run-off.
Romania’s constitutional court has upheld a shock first-round result in its presidential election, setting the stage for a run-off vote on Dec. 8 that could bolster the country’s pro-Western outlook and erode support for Ukraine.
Monday’s ruling clears the uncertainty that has hung over the nation since a court ordered a recount last week.
This would ensure a November 24 victory for a little-known right-wing candidate Calin GeorgescuIt raised suspicions of outside meddling in the election process of a country that has been a staunch ally of Ukraine as it fights Russian aggression.
“The judges unanimously decided … to confirm and validate the result of the first presidential round on November 24 and to hold the second round on December 8,” Chief Justice Marion Enache said.
Georgescu will now face center-right contender Elena Lasconi in a run-off in the European Union and NATO member state.
A day ago, Romania a Parliamentary ElectionsThe ruling left-wing Social Democrat Party (PSD) is in the lead while right-wing parties have won more than a third of the seats in the new legislature.
The outcome of Sunday’s parliamentary election, the second of three ballots scheduled over as many weeks, will set the stage for a period of talks between mainstream parties on forming a governing majority, with the PSD central to the talks. .
PSD leader and Prime Minister Marcel Ciolaku told reporters that the party has not yet endorsed a candidate for the presidential election.
“The Romanians must decide for themselves,” he said.
“PSD should be a bridge between EU-development and EU and NATO membership and … a part of Romanians who believe in Christian values and national identity.”
With 99.98 percent of votes counted in the parliamentary vote, the PSD won 22.3 percent, ahead of the right-wing Coalition for the Uniting of Romanians with 18.3 percent.
Lasconi’s centrist opposition, the Save Romania Union (USR), had 12.25 percent, while the younger ruling coalition alliance, the Liberals, had 14.3 percent. Two right-wing groups, SOS and POT, had 7.75 percent and 6.4 percent, respectively, and the ethnic Hungarian party UDMR was at 6.38 percent.
Liberal leader Ili Bolojan said the party is ready to participate in a pro-Western coalition.
“If the president is right-wing, it will be very complicated for pro-Europeans to organize and oppose in parliament because they will have an extraordinarily difficult 2025,” political scientist Cristian Pirvulescu told the Reuters news agency.
Who forms the government ultimately depends on who wins the presidential race, as the president appoints the prime minister.
A Dec. 1 pollster CURS poll of polling stations suggested Georgescu could win a run-off with 57.8 percent to Lasconi’s 42.2 percent. The survey collected 24,629 people.
“Yesterday’s election shows that the voter pool for Lasconi is too small. The voter pool for Georgescu is too big,” Pirvulescu said.
“The more PSD voters have in common with the right-wing candidate, the more likely they are to have a major shot at winning the election.”
Georgescu – who has relied heavily on social media, particularly TikTok, to reach voters – has adopted a softer tone on Russia and criticized the deployment of NATO ballistic missiles in Romania. Ukraine borders.
Philippe Losberg, senior policy analyst at the Belgium-based European Policy Centre, a research institute, told Al Jazeera last week. Georgescu won over the anti-establishment vote
“Many are fed up with the existing party system. Some feel unrepresented by them,” Lausberg said.
