Electoral surprise in Romania: the new president is Klaus Iohannis, liberal leader, mayor of Sibiu and representative of the German minority in the country. The polls of the last few days instead gave the Social Democrat premier Victor Ponta the winner. When 76,5% of the ballots were scrutinized, Iohannis obtained 54,8% of the preferences, against 45% of Ponta, who squandered more than 10 percentage points in two weeks (the first round was closed with the prime minister at 40% against 30% of the challenger).
To weigh on the disastrous performance of the Social Democrat was above all the management of the vote abroad. The Romanian community that lives outside the borders, in fact, voted en masse for Iohannis and also in Romania the feeling of solidarity with the diaspora which had been denied the vote in the first round had an enormous weight: thousands of people descended into also yesterday to ask that the deadline for voting abroad be extended, where many Romanians queued for hours, to no avail.
Ponta's defeat was first of all clear to the prime minister who shortly after the first exit polls, which gave a head to head and the counting had just begun, called Iohannis to congratulate him on the victory, but reiterating that he will not resign as head of the government. “I thank all the Romanians who voted – said Ponta – the people are always right. I called the Iohannis to congratulate them on their win. I'm sorry I failed but I'm not giving up." The new president replied via Facebook with a few words ("I won") and immediately afterwards went to the cheering crowd in University Square in Bucharest.
Previously, miles-long queues had been seen from the early hours of dawn at major polling stations abroad. People forced to wait often in the rain and eventually even the tear gas of the police in Turin and Paris. This was the situation in which about 360 eligible Romanians cast their vote to elect the new president.
The total number of voters from the diaspora, which has more than three million people, was more than double the first round when 150 Romanians went to the polls. The highest turnout was recorded in Italy (where 51 seats had been prepared, but almost 70 had been requested), in Spain, Moldova, Great Britain, Germany and France.
Since the early hours of the morning in Rome, Turin, Paris, London, Munich and Stuttgart thousands had lined up to vote, even after having faced long journeys. When in the afternoon it became clear that many would not be able to vote by 21 pm (local time in each polling station), protests broke out both abroad and in Romania. In Bucharest and in the main cities, thousands of Romanians took to the streets demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Ponta and for voting hours to be extended: this possibility was examined by the Foreign Ministry and the Central Electoral Office but rejected.
The situation degenerated in Turin where 5 people had queued up and where the protests were put down with the use of tear gas, as in Paris. “Victor Ponta made some mistakes – explained the analyst of the Cespri think tank, Sergiu Miscoiu, referring to the controversies in the first round which also led to the resignation of Foreign Minister Titus Corlatean -. The main one has been to ostracize the diaspora. The result was not so much the vote of Romanians abroad, but the solidarity of Romania”.
