Global Information2014 Romanian presidential election information
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| Turnout | 53.18% (first round) 64.11% (second round) | |||||||||||||||||||
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 The results of the presidential election, showing the vote strength by county in the second round. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Politics of Romania |
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Presidential elections were held in Romania in 2014. They were the seventh presidential elections held in post-1989 Romania. In the first round of the elections on 2 November, the top two of the fourteen candidates qualified in a run-off on 16 November. These candidates were Victor Ponta, former Prime Minister and ex-leader of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) who won around 40% of the vote in the first round, and Klaus Iohannis, then mayor of Sibiu (German: Hermannstadt) and leader of the Christian Liberal Alliance (ACL), who won around 30% in the first round respectively.[1] Following large protests on how Ponta's government organized the elections in the diaspora, Klaus Iohannis staged a surprising come-back and won the run-off with 54.5%, or more than a million votes than his contender.
Ponta, who had been previously serving as Prime Minister of Romania since May 2012, ran his campaign on promoting an alleged national reconciliation message of a "great union" between all Romanians,[2] defending his governance as balanced, with both progressive and right-wing measures, and promising to end the "era" established by the then incumbent president, Traian Băsescu. However, his government faced some indirect international criticism, with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland criticizing in October 2014 what she called the "cancer of democratic regression and corruption" in several Central and Southeast Europe nations and with politicians who "protect the corrupt office holders from prosecution and bypass parliament as often as it suits them".[3] Iohannis, a Transylvanian Saxon (therefore part of the community of the Germans of Romania), focused his campaign on judicial independence and fiscal relaxation,[4] and promised to promote "Romania of thoroughness" and a "Romania of things well done," while blaming the country's economic and political problems on the regional governance of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), the so-called "barons".[5]
The electoral campaign ran between 3 October and 1 November and was overshadowed by several corruption scandals (Microsoftgate,[6] EADS, illegal retrocessions)[7] involving key figures of PSD,[8] but also the candidate Elena Udrea.[9] Outgoing President Traian Băsescu accused Victor Ponta of being an undercover spy, incompatible under the Romanian legislation with a public position,[1] while Klaus Iohannis faced accusations of incompatibility filed by the National Integrity Agency after September, 2013. Following very long voting times and large numbers of people who couldn't vote before the closing of polls in diaspora, large protests were staged in multiple cities across Romania and at Romanian embassies before the second round. This was regarded as both incapacity and unwillingness of Ponta's government to organize fair elections, and led to a surprisingly large turnout of over 64% (largest since 1996), and a surprise win for Iohannis in the second round.
- ^ a b Andra Timu (2 November 2014). "Romania Votes in Presidential Election With Ponta in Lead". Bloomberg.
- ^ "Romania to elect new president after 'wretched' campaign". EUobserver. 14 November 2014.
- ^ "Discurs dur al Victoriei Nuland la adresa liderilor central-europeni: Protejați parlamentarii corupți și demonizaţi societatea civilă". Digi24 (in Romanian). 3 October 2014.
- ^ "DEZBATERE IOHANNIS - PONTA. Cearta pe pensii, salarii, imunitate si votul diasporei. Cine a "castigat" meciul pe internet". Retrieved 22 November 2014.
- ^ Peter Janku, Robert Schwartz (1 November 2014). "Democracy put to the test in Romania". Deutsche Welle.
- ^ "'Microsoftgate' scandal rocks Romania". EurActiv. 3 October 2014.
- ^ "Romanian Prime Minister's father-in-law prosecuted in EUR 300 mln illegal forest restitution case". Romania-Insider.com. 16 October 2014. Archived from the original on 3 November 2014. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
- ^ Radu-Sorin Marinaș (20 October 2014). "Romania starts corruption investigation of ruling-party bosses". Yahoo! News.
- ^ "Presa germană aruncă bomba: Candidatul la Președinția Romaniei, Elena Udrea, și persoane de rang înalt din Germania, implicați în scandalul EADS-Microsoft". Jurnalul Național (in Romanian). 28 October 2014. Archived from the original on 31 October 2014. Retrieved 2 November 2014.