Romania - 2019 Presidential Election
Unlike in some European nations, Romania's president is chosen by popular vote and is in charge of foreign policy, the powerful intelligence services and the country’s defense policies.
Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said he would seek a new five-year term in office in the 2019 election. "I'm firmly determined to run for a new term as president of Romania," he said on 23 June 2018 during a visit to Sibiu, his native city. The centrist Iohannis, 59, an ethnic German, became president in 2014 after campaigning on an anticorruption platform.
Iohannis was at loggerheads with the ruling Social Democrat Party (PSD), accusing it of attempting to weaken the fight against corruption, putting pressure on the judicial system, and implementing bad fiscal policies. The leader of the PSD, Liviu Dragnea, on 21 June 2018 was sentenced to three and a half years in prison by the Supreme Court on charges of inciting others to abuse of office. He denies the charges and remains out of prison pending his appeal.
Viorica Dancila became prime minister in early 2018 -- the third since the PSD-ALDE alliance came to power in late 2016 -- with the backing of then-PSD leader and lower house speaker Liviu Dragnea, who could not take the job himself because he had a suspended prison conviction for influence peddling.
The PSD-ALDE alliance was faced with huge street protests over judicial moves many Romanians say threatened the rule of law and for weakening anti-corruption legislation. It had also faced sustained heavy criticism from the European Union and the United States for reversing hitherto successful reforms.
Thousands of Romanians on 23 June 2018 protested outside the government offices in the capital, Bucharest, and in other cities against controversial PSD-backed amendments to justice laws and the penal code that critics say will set back efforts to prosecute corruption. Some of the protesters targeted Dragnea’s office, saying he would benefit from the legislation.
Iohannis, the European Commission, and the U.S. State Department criticized the proposed changes to judicial legislation, saying they could derail the rule of law. Iohannis on 08 June 2018 joined other members of NATO's eastern flank, known as the "Bucharest Nine," in calling on the Western alliance to bolster its presence in their region at the upcoming summit in the face of what they see as Russian "aggression."
Anti-government protests reached a peak in August 2018, when a 100,000-strong demonstration in Bucharest in support of the rule of law was violently repressed by riot police, who used tear gas, water cannons, and batons against peaceful protesters. Scores of people sustained injuries and one person apparently died as a result of the crackdown.
Since winning the mayoral elections, Bucharest mayor Gabriela Firea, a former journalist and TV presenter, has been harshly criticised by her opponents for her poor management of the Romanian capital. At the same time, she has gained popularity by offering free holiday vouchers for students and pensioners, free vouchers for bikes and financial aid for mothers, and other benefits. In addition, the city hall has been organising many free entertainment events for Bucharest citizens.
A Sociopol poll quoted by Mediafax news agency in July 2018 showed that Firea was seen as the second most trustworthy person in Romania (25%), after Raed Arafat, the head of the Emergency Situation Department (50%), and ahead of President Klaus Iohannis (24%). The same poll put Dragnea’s popularity at just 15%. Firea is also the most popular PSD leader according to polls, and her accusations against the party leader might cause Dragnea to lose even more support, both from PSD voters and even inside his own party.
Dragnea said he is not planning to run for the Romanian presidency in the election due to take place in late 2019, where, according to the PSD leader, the coalition made up of the PSD and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (Alde) will have a joint candidate for the post.
Yet at the moment there appears to be no obvious candidate for the two parties to put forward. Firea has said she does not want to take either the Romanian president post or that of PSD leader. Alde leader Calin Popescu Tariceanu could become the joint candidate of the coalition, according to Firea, but a 01 September 2018 meeting revealed that would not be a popular choice among PSD members.
The popularity of the PSD-led coalition sank to new lows in 2019, when it suffered a heavy defeat in May 2019 at the hands of the PNL and a newly formed center-right party, Save Romania Union (USR) in the elections for the European Parliament. A day after the election, Dragnea lost an appeal in a second influence-peddling trial and was sentenced to three years in prison.
Romanian Prime Minister Viorica Dancila’s beleaguered left-wing government lost a no-confidence vote a year before a general election and just weeks ahead of presidential polls. The October 10 vote passed when 238 deputies voted for the no-confidence motion, five more than what was needed for a majority in the 465-seat legislature. Dancila lost her parliamentary majority in August after the junior partner in the governing coalition, the Liberal-Democratic Alliance (ALDE), withdrew support following disagreements, after its leader did not win the nomination as the coalition's sole presidential candidate. The PSD instead chose Dancila to run for president in the next month's poll. On October 2, the National Liberal Party (PNL), the largest opposition party, announced that it had collected enough signatures to file the no-confidence motion.
After the collapse of Dancila's government, President Klaus Iohannis, who was a clear favorite to win a second five-year term on November 10, announced that he favored early parliamentary elections and would hold consultations on the issue with the PNL, USR, and the other opposition parties. Parliamentary elections are scheduled toward the end of 2020.
Romanian President Klaus Iohannis named the leader of the center-right National Liberal Party (PNL) as the country's next prime minister. Ludovic Orban has 10 days to form a cabinet and secure the support of the fragmented parliament after Iohannis asked him on October 15 to form a new government following consultations with parliamentary groups. The move came after the government led by the leftist Social Democratic Party (PSD) collapsed week after losing a no-confidence vote in parliament. The PNL would need the support of many opposition parties that toppled the PSD government to secure a majority in parliament.
Romania's new center-right government was sworn in by President Klaus Iohannis after winning a confidence vote in parliament on 04 November 2019 following the collapse of the leftist Social Democrat (PSD) government. Prime Minister Ludovic Orban's new government "passed with 240 votes," an official announcement said, surpassing by seven votes the minimum of 233 votes required to replace the outgoing Socialist cabinet of Viorica Dancila. Orban, 56, and his centrist government have announced objectives that include trimming government bureaucracy, infrastructure investments, recalibrating economic measures, and ensuring an independent justice system. The latter policy objective is partly what led to the previous government, led by former Prime Minister Viorica Dancila, collapsing.
Romania holds a presidential election on November 10, with a possible runoff on November 24, and is scheduled to hold local and parliamentary elections next spring and autumn. Opinion polls indicate that centrist Iohannis is the favorite to win a second five-year term.
With Romania’s incumbent president Klaus Iohannis indicated by all the polls so far as the probable winner in the first round of the presidential elections, the main question is now who will join him in the second round. Three of the other 13 candidates in the race have real chances of making it to the second round, according to polls: former prime minister and Social Democratic Party (PSD) leader Viorica Dancila, Save Romania Union (USR) leader Dan Barna, and actor Mircea Diaconu, who ran as an independent. Opinion poll results were rather mixed and show that any of the three candidates could qualify into the second round. Theoretically, Viorica Dancila is the top contender, as she had one of the biggest parties in Romania supporting her. Moreover, PSD hasn’t missed any presidential final in the last 30 years. Iohannis himself would prefer a direct confrontation with Dancila, one that political commentators believe he would win without a great effort due to the strong anti-PSD current.
A direct duel between Iohannis and Dan Barna in the second round would be more complicated and open to any result as their supporter base overlaps as both address mainly the anti-PSD electorate. Barna and Iohannis have avoided direct attacks so far, but this could change if both made it to the final. Mircea Diaconu could be the surprise contender for Iohannis in the second round if he won enough votes from the PSD camp. His message is directed more towards the traditionalist public. Although some polls credited him with high chances to second place, he himself admited this possibility was rather low.
Romania's pro-EU incumbent President Klaus Iohannis won the first round of the country's presidential election, according to first partial official results. The Central Electoral Bureau (BEC) said on November 11 that after the counting of almost 96 percent of the vote, Iohannis, backed by the governing center-right National Liberal Party (PNL), took first with 36.91 percent of the vote, and will face recently ousted Prime Minister Viorica Dancila, the leader of leftist Social Democratic Party (PSD) in a November 24 runoff. Dancila garnered 23.45 percent of the vote on November 10 amid the lowest turnout in Romania's postcommunist presidential elections -- less than 48 percent of the more than 18 million registered voters.
Klaus Iohannis was elected 24 November 2019 for a second term after he heavily defeated his socialist opponent Viorica Dancila in a runoff vote. According to the eastern European country's electoral body, the center-right former physics professor obtained 62.8 percent of the votes, while Social Democrats’ (PSD) Dancila received the other 37.1 percent. The general participation represented 49.87 percent, as a total of 18.2 million Romanians were eligible to vote including a record 650,000 voters living abroad.
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