Romanian presidential election: right-wing populist in the lead
The far-right candidate George Simion has won a resounding victory in the first round of the repeat presidential election in Romania. The leader of the right-wing populist party AUR secured around 40 percent of the vote. In the run-off on 18 May Simion will go up against the non-affiliated mayor of Bucharest Nicușor Dan, who received around 21 percent of the first-round vote. Romanian and foreign commentators voice concern.
Simion now unbeatable?
Dan has a huge gap to bridge in the second round of voting, Spotmedia notes:
“How can this election result be explained? ... Generally speaking one can say that it's partly due to frustration over the cancellation of the presidential election last year [6 December] and partly to a campaign in which the pro-European candidates discredited themselves by insulting each other. Nobody really understood what happened in the last year, and we're paying the price for that. ... The question now is whether Simion can still be defeated on 18 May, given the huge gap in votes. ... He only needs an additional eleven percentage points to win, whereas Nicușor Dan needs 30.”
A familiar script
History is repeating itself, says La Repubblica:
“Simion is proof that the sovereignist model is very popular in many countries of the former Eastern Bloc. The script is very similar in Hungary, Slovakia, Poland and now Romania: victimhood and nostalgia for the good old days, hostility towards the elites, Euroscepticism, anti-migrantism, crude nationalism and aversion to Ukraine. ... Simion stressed that he wanted to signal his 'sole mission: the restoration of constitutional order and democracy'.”
A country on a knife's edge
Jurnalul Național is pessimistic:
“The presidential election foreshadows a potentially profound political crisis. ... The current government, caught between the need for drastic fiscal measures and populist pressure, risks collapse regardless of who moves into the presidential palace. ... But these elections are not just about the office of president but more importantly about the country's economic and geopolitical future. Romania is on a knife's edge. ... The country risks being perceived as unstable, a place where investments are uncertain and political decisions are dictated more by populism than by economic reason.”