Panic on the pro-EU side is becoming palpable in Romania as the first round of the hotly anticipated presidential election, scheduled for May 4th, draws near.
In the latest dramatic twist, the liberal USR (Renew) decided to pull their support from behind party leader Elena Lasconi, and decided to endorse their former member, the independent Bucharest mayor Nicușor Dan instead.
The reason was Lasconi’s abysmal showing in the polls, which predict she would get around 4-6% this time around, despite winning second place in the annulled election back in December with nearly 20%, within a hair’s breadth of becoming the country’s first female president.
The “opportunist traitors” behind the “coup”—as Lasconi referred to her deputies—argued that they only want to avoid a situation where no pro-European candidate enters the second round.
According to some current projections—the polls show widely different outcomes based on who commissions them—the two leading candidates are nationalist George Simion (AUR/ECR) and former socialist PM Victor Ponta. The latter recently rebranded himself as an independent left-wing populist on a “Romania First” platform, complete with red baseball hats and a sudden anti-globalist rhetorical shift.
While Simion’s first place is guaranteed, his opponent in the second round might also be either Dan or Crin Antonescu, the joint candidate of the ruling establishment parties, PSD (S&D) and PNL (EPP). With Dan polling between 16-26%, he’s clearly a much safer bet than Lasconi.
Nonetheless, the “Kamala of Câmpulung”—as she was often referred to during last year’s campaign—refuses to step down, even if that means she would take away the few percentage points from Dan or Antonescu that’s needed for the pro-EU side to stay in the race.
“I am more determined than ever because I see how rotten this system is,” Lasconi stated. “I will fight with all my might.”
