Romania's Political Elite Loses Support Before Presidential Vote
(Bloomberg) -- Romania's ruling parties lost ground ahead of a re-scheduled presidential ballot, with the latest poll showing support for the front-runner far-right candidate as well as the independent mayor of the capital.
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Calin Georgescu, the fringe pro-Russian candidate who shocked the political establishment last year by winning the first round of the now-annulled presidential election, would get 37% of the votes, according to a CURS poll published on Tuesday.
Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan, an independent, meanwhile edged ahead of Crin Antonescu, a former National Liberal Party leader who's backed by Romania's pro-European ruling coalition. Dan polled at 21% compared with 18% for Antonescu. The margin of error was 3 percentage points.
The poll highlights the growing frustration of Romanians with the ruling elite, who are working on unpopular spending cuts to stabilize public finances. The ruling parties had backed the top court's controversial ruling to cancel the Nov. 24 vote after allegations of Russian meddling in Georgescu's favor.
At stake is the direction of the EU and NATO member that has been a reliable US partner since the fall of communism and which shares the longest border with Ukraine among member states. Romania also hosts thousands of troops from the military alliance.
Georgescu, who previously was considered a marginal candidate, had relied on a savvy social media campaign, including high-quality TikTok videos, for which he declared no funding.
The 62-year-old agricultural engineer, who has praised Russian President Vladimir Putin and denounced NATO, has taken to channeling some of US President Donald Trump's rhetoric. He likened the decision to cancel the ballot to a 'coup' and repeatedly pointed to it as evidence of a 'rigged system.'
He may still be banned from running in the presidential race, which is now scheduled to be held in May.
Should that happen, another far-right candidate would likely take Georgescu's place. The CURS polls showed that George Simion, the leader of the largest opposition party AUR, would have the best chances to channel that support. Simion had earlier pulled out of the race to avoid splitting the vote.
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