Presidential elections in Romania: Shocked voters demand change change

Presidential elections in Romania: Shocked voters demand change change

Romania faces an unexpected political turn: In the current presidential election campaign, the little -known extremist Calin Georgescu leads 22.5 percent of the vote, while the incumbent Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu from the Governing PSD will take 19.7 percent into the race for the runoff on December 8. This is done in a country where voters apparently express their displeasure with the existing political structures, which is described as a "anger choice".

Georgescu, which has hardly any political basis and above all about social media, especially Tikkok, his voters have attracted attention. Romanian political scientists speculate about possible influencing factors, including possible manipulation by foreign actors such as Russia. After the election at a Facebook press conference, Georgescu said that the Romanian people were "awakened" and no longer wanted to be suppressed. These statements are in the context of continuing economic uncertainty that many citizens suffer.

Who is Calin Georgescu?

Georgescu is a studied agronomist and has a controversial past. First, the right-wing extremist Aur party wanted to use it as honorary chairman in 2022. However, the hostility to Jews and the hymns of praise for those responsible for the Holocaust quickly led to conflicts with the party and ultimately for criminal investigations against him. Known for his extremist-antijewish rhetoric, he describes himself not only as a candidate, but as a "appointed", which illustrates his radical agenda.

In the election on Sunday, the mood of voters was clear: the dissatisfaction with the current political situation and the high inflation of five percent drove people to the urns. The election results not only show a clear rejection of the traditional parties, but also open the way for new, unconventional political actors such as Georgescu, which could change the political climate in Romania.

The relevant polling stations opened their doors on Sunday at 6:00 a.m. CET, and with an election procedure that included 19,000 polling stations across the country, it was particularly noteworthy that 950 of them were set up abroad, including 17 in Austria. This shows the efforts to persuade as many Romanians as possible to vote, even if the majority seem to be behind the established parties.

Now it remains to be seen how the situation will develop in the coming months and what role Georgescu will play beyond the election in Romanian politics. The uncertainty and changes that the upcoming runoff election could have far -reaching consequences for the future of the country. More details on this topic can be found in a detailed report on Volksblatt.at .