NewsRomanian upheaval: Iohannis resigns amid election chaos

Romanian upheaval: Iohannis resigns amid election chaos

Major changes in Romania. The country's President, Klaus Iohannis, announced his resignation from office on Monday.

Klaus Iohannis, Romania's president, speaks outside a polling station during parliamentary elections, in Bucharest, Romania, on Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. In the final days before Romania's parliamentary elections this weekend, the governing parties' leaders both quit, pollsters gave up on projecting the results and the nation's top court cast serious doubt on the integrity of the voting process. Photographer: Andrei Pungovschi/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Klaus Iohannis, Romania's president, speaks outside a polling station during parliamentary elections, in Bucharest, Romania, on Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. In the final days before Romania's parliamentary elections this weekend, the governing parties' leaders both quit, pollsters gave up on projecting the results and the nation's top court cast serious doubt on the integrity of the voting process. Photographer: Andrei Pungovschi/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Images source: © GETTY | Bloomberg
Maciej Zubel

In recent weeks, the capital of Romania, Bucharest, has witnessed demonstrations involving thousands of participants. The demonstrators demanded a second round of presidential elections.

The constitutional court annulled the elections when the pro-Russian candidate, Calin Georgescu, won the first round on 24th November 2024. This resulted in the largest protest thus far against the annulment of the elections.

The Romanian court annulled the presidential elections two days before the second round and ordered the entire electoral process to be repeated. Simultaneously, it instructed that the elections be redone in full.

The pro-European governing coalition has not yet approved the election calendar, but party leaders have agreed to hold two rounds of elections on 4th and 18th May. Iohannis' term ended on 21st December. According to previous assurances, the politician was expected to remain in office until a successor was elected.

Source: PAP

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