Bucharest (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Romania’s presidential elections began on November 24, with 13 candidates, including Ciolacu and Simion.
The first round of voting has started as presidential elections are taking place in Romania on Sunday, November 24. Romania started electing a new president today. Polling stations are unlocked at 07:00 local time and will close at 21:00, as reported by authorities. There are just over 19 million registered voters in Romania, with about one million living abroad. About 19,000 polling stations have been set up for the election.
In the first round of the presidential vote, 14 candidates were listed on the ballot. One candidate, ex-Prime Minister Ludovic Orban, withdrew from the vote and called for support for Elena Lasconi, the head of the right-wing opposition Save Romania Union (USR).
Who are the leading candidates in this election?
According to polls, the top contenders are Romania’s left-wing Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu and the head of the opposition far-right AUR party, George Simion, who is supposed to have links to Russia.
What does Marcel Ciolacu’s vision for Romania include?
Leading in the polls is PM Marcel Ciolacu, who is supported by Romania’s largest party, the Social Democratic Party (PSD). Ciolacu expressed he has a “clear plan for a more developed Romania that leaves no one behind, an internal strategy based on economic growth on investments and a plan for a more respected and influential Romania abroad. Unfortunately, we have political leaders who challenge our presence in the EU and NATO […] I believe that extremists must be politically isolated and not taken into account by any government,” the PSD leader said.
How is George Simion popular among young and diaspora voters?
On the other hand, George Simion leader of the radical right Alliance for Uniting Romanians (AUR), was launched five years ago and entered parliament in 2020. He ranks second in most opinion surveys and is hugely famous with the Romanian diaspora and young voters. Simion resists military aid to Ukraine and says he would support peace measures by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who has stated he will end the war without expressing how. He advocates restoring Romania to its 1940 borders, which include regions now in Bulgaria, Moldova and Ukraine, and is prohibited from entering Moldova and Ukraine.
This is the ninth presidential vote in Romania since the 1989 revolution. In the last 35 years, the country has had four presidents: Ion Iliescu, Emil Constantinescu, Traian Băsescu, and Klaus Iohannis. Iohannis performed two terms and is ineligible to run in this year’s election. It is worth mentioning that this year many countries held presidential or parliamentary elections.
