Romanian outgoing president resigns to ease mounting tension
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Romania's outgoing president Klaus Iohannis says he had resigned to "spare Romania a new political crisis".
PHOTO: REUTERS
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BUCHAREST – Romania’s outgoing president resigned in an effort to defuse political tension after a High Court decision to annul a shock election result in 2024
The decision by Mr Klaus Iohannis, who had planned to depart as Romania’s head of state late in 2024, does not immediately affect plans to hold a repeat of the presidential ballot in May. But it may ease political pressure, with public anger over corruption directed at establishment parties and buoying the far right.
Mr Iohannis said on Feb 10 he had resigned “to spare Romania a new political crisis”.
His resignation came as Parliament was due to start debates on a motion filed by the opposition, including far-right parties, to suspend him. Any such measure against an outgoing president would be “useless” and make Romania “the laughing stock of the world”, he said.
The leader of Romania’s Senate, Mr Ilie Bolojan, will take over the duties of the presidency on an interim basis until a successor is elected.
The surge in far-right support led to the stunning victory for fringe candidate Calin Georgescu in the initial first-round ballot in November. That result – and the controversial decision to scrap the presidential vote and hold a new one – has thrown Romania into its gravest political crisis since the fall of communism.
Mr Georgescu, who has denounced Nato and praised Russian President Vladimir Putin, remains a front runner for the do-over election. A few hundred of his supporters protested in Bucharest on Feb 10.
Mr Iohannis’ departure after more than a decade in office takes place as voters decry the authorities’ failure to lift many communities out of a cycle of poverty. The ruling coalition’s joint candidate in the presidential contest, Mr Crin Antonescu, is trailing in polls so far.
“It’s a wise decision, the government remains stable, and this resignation is better than going through an impeachment process of an outgoing president,” Mr Antonescu told reporters in Bucharest on Feb 10. BLOOMBERG
