Romania presidential elections 2024: Huge shock in the first round as partial results show nationalistic independent candidate in front
UPDATE: Independent candidate Calin Georgescu won the first round of the presidential elections in Romania with a score of 22.9%, producing the biggest electoral shock the country has seen in the last 35 years. To make this a double…
Andrei Chirileasa · Journalist
· Updated · 4 min read
UPDATE: Independent candidate Calin Georgescu won the first round of the presidential elections in Romania with a score of 22.9%, producing the biggest electoral shock the country has seen in the last 35 years. To make this a double surprise, Social Democrat Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, indicated by the opinion polls as the favorite in these elections, is likely to be surpassed by reformist leader Elena Lasconi (USR). With 99.93% of the votes centralized, Lasconi took a narrow lead of about 400 votes over Ciolacu. Save Romania Union (USR) announced on Monday morning that their count indicated that Lasconi would take second place with a margin of a few thousand votes over Ciolacu. Given that most votes still to be counted are from abroad, where Lasconi has a higher score than Ciolacu, this is highly plausible.
This is a huge blow for the dominant parties that have ruled Romania in the last 35 years - PSD and PNL - whose candidates were eliminated from the first round. If the final results confirm Georgescu and Lasconi in the lead, it will be the first time that PSD fails to send its candidate in the final. The vote results indicate strong dissatisfaction with the establishment parties and leave the parliamentary elections set for next Sunday (December 1) open to more surprises.
Romania’s presidential elections are heading towards a shock result after the first round held on Sunday, November 24. With about 80% of the votes counted and centralized, independent candidate Calin Georgescu is in the lead, ahead of social democrat prime minister Marcel Ciolacu.
Calin Georgescu, 63, has a doctorate in pedology and has worked as a specialist in the environment conservation sector. His messages position him as a candidate with strong nationalistic.
The partial results indicated over 1.73 million votes for Georgescu, representing 22% of the 7.85 million ballots counted so far, versus 1.64 million votes (20.9%) for PM Ciolacu.
Reformist candidate Elena Lasconi (USR) was third, with 1.33 million votes (17% of the total), followed by far-right leader George Simion (AUR), with 1.13 million votes (14.4% of the total).
Liberal leader Nicolae Ciuca was fifth (9.3%) and independent Mircea Geoana, the former NATO deputy secretary general, was only sixth (6.0%).
