In a close race ahead of next year’s presidential elections, independent candidate Mircea Geoană, the deputy secretary general of NATO, is leading the race for the presidential elections with 25.3%.
In a recent poll released on Monday, Geoană, leads the race with 25.3%, followed by Prime Minister and social-democratic party Marcel Ciolacu with 19.5%, and George Simion (AUR), the Romanian far-right leader, with 18.7%.
“This marks a historic shift, with an independent candidate significantly impacting the performance of party-backed candidates. The first-round percentages are 70% for candidates with a moderate-democratic profile and 30% for those with a radical profile”, according to Remus Stefureac, founder of INSCOP.
Over half of the respondents have expressed an intention to vote, with 57.2% stating they will definitely participate in the presidential elections.
Other candidates’ standings are as follows: Nicolae Ciucă (PNL) at 11.2%, Diana Șoșoacă (SOS Romania) at 10.1%, Cătălin Drulă (USR, PMP, FD) at 5.6%, Dacian Cioloș (REPER) at 4.1%, and Kelemen Hunor (UDMR) at 2.7%. 2.8% of voters have expressed support for another candidate.
The Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR) has seen substantial growth since its 2020 political debut, rising from 9% to 20% in recent polls. Simion has expressed his ambition to be part of the next government while describing AUR as a ‘Eurorealist’ party, as revealed in an exclusive interview.
(Manuela Preoteasa, Sebastian Rotaru | Euractiv.ro)
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