Romanians are preparing to go to the polls in a parliamentary vote that will determine a new government and prime minister to lead the European Union and NATO member country. However, Sunday's vote is sandwiched between a two-round presidential race and is overshadowed by controversies and chaos following the outcome of the first vote.
FILE - A woman shouts holding an altered version of a classic painting, depicting Russian President Vladimir Putin and Calin Georgescu, the independent candidate for Romania n presidency who won the first round of elections making it to the Dec. 8, runoff in Bucharest, Romania , Monday, Nov. 25, 2024.
“He’s pro-Russia, pro-Putin, and we, the people — and especially the young people — we are supporting democracy,” said Sebastian Marin, an 18-year-old student who attended a protest on Wednesday in the capital. “It’s really important for people to mobilize.”Protesters in Serbia hold 15-minute blockade for 15 victims of roof collapse, demanding justice, has triggered nightly protests throughout Romania by those who oppose his past remarks and view him as a threat to democracy.
“I find it a bit worrying that these elections are so close together,” Andrei Ienculescu-Popovici, a 28-year-old computer programmer, told The Associated Press. “At the moment, almost no one talks about the parliamentary elections … it has become a non-topic.” It is the first time in Romania’s 35-year post-communist history that the leftist Social Democratic Party did not have a candidate in a presidential runoff. Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu resigned as party leader after he lost to Lasconi by a wafer-thin 2,740 votes, and Nicolae Ciuca also resigned as leader of the center-right National Liberal Party after obtaining just 8.7%.
Like many countries throughout Europe or even the U.S., anti-incumbency sentiment is running high in Romania, which has experienced high inflation and cost of living, has a large budget deficit, and a sluggish economy. It has bolstered support for far-right populist parties. Romania’s Minister of Energy Sebastian Burduja told the AP: “Nobody saw this coming … and I mean nobody.” He added that the far-right Alliance for the Union of Romanians gaining more power in parliament after Sunday’s race, and Georgescu winning the final presidential vote, “is a very real concern.”
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