President Iohannis Wins First Round of Romanian Election

With 99.9 percent of the ballots counted on Monday morning, incumbent President Klaus Iohannis, from the National Liberal Party, PNL, came out on top with 36.6 per cent of the votes in the first round of the Romanian presidential elections.

Social Democratic Party, PSD candidate Viorica Dancila came second with 23.7 per cent, and will now face Iohannis in a run-off on November 24.

Third was Dan Barna of USR PLUS, with 13.9 per cent of the vote, followed by independent candidate Mircea Diaconu, a veteran actor, who scored 9.2 per cent.

Minutes after the polls closed, Iohannis spoke to the nation from the National Liberal Party headquarters in Bucharest.

"Romanians have never voted in such numbers and so clearly against the PSD, and this is a great step forward for Romania," said the incumbent president, who is being tipped by opinion polls to win in the second round.

Meanwhile, PSD candidate Dancila thanked her party for mobilising the electorate to secure the second place, and voiced her optimism ahead of the run-off.

"We hope that today's vote will multiply in the next round," said Dancila, who was the country's prime minister until she was toppled with her government in a no-confidence vote on October 10.

Although the president's role is chiefly symbolic in Romania, the outcome of the elections is likely to have a huge impact on the country's political future.

A PNL minority government led by Prime Minister Ludovic Orban took over from Dancila's PSD executive last Monday after receiving the support of parliament.

A victory for Iohannis in the run-off might positively influence the prospects of the PNL at the next general elections that are to be held in December 2020 at the latest.

In the second round...