Romanian Premier Faces Runoff in Presidential Race
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Version 0 of 1. BUCHAREST, Romania — Prime Minister Victor Ponta of Romania, the favorite to replace Traian Basescu as president, has been forced into a runoff after failing to capture the majority of votes in an election over the weekend that was closer than expected. The official results from Sunday’s election showed a 10-percentage-point lead for Mr. Ponta, with 98.3 percent of the votes counted. Mr. Ponta of the Social Democratic Party had 40.33 percent of the vote, with Klaus Iohannis, the ethnic German mayor of Sibiu and the candidate for the National Liberal Party, finishing a strong second with 30.44 percent. Calin Popescu-Tariceanu, the former prime minister, came in third, with 5.4 percent of the vote, in a crowded field of 14 candidates. “These are worrying results for Victor Ponta,” said Adrian Moraru, deputy director at the Institute for Public Policy in Bucharest. “Everyone knew he would be in first place after this round, but now it could be a very tough second round.” The runoff election between Mr. Ponta and Mr. Iohannis will take place Nov. 16. |