Mircea Geoana, a former deputy NATO chief, on Wednesday announced his bid for Romania’s presidency as polls show he may be a frontrunner in the race to succeed Klaus Iohannis who’s stepping down after two terms.
The 66-year-old former diplomat who stepped down as NATO deputy secretary general this month plans to run as an independent against the top challengers, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu of the Social Democratic Party and Senate Speaker Nicolae Ciuca who heads the National Liberal Party.
Mr. Geoana announced his bid on his Facebook page. Before his post at NATO he led the Social Democratic party, and narrowly lost a bid for the presidency in 2009 to Traian Basescu.
“I’m running for president because I know we need real change!” he said.
“I could have promised you a perfect country. To pose as the perfect politician, to tell you that all problems will disappear overnight. But we all know that this is not the reality. We are not perfect. I’m not perfect. But do you know what we can do? We can work. Let’s roll up our sleeves and build a better country.”
“Romania does not need perfection; it needs leaders who listen, understand and act professionally.”
Romanian holds presidential elections on Nov. 24, with a runoff scheduled two weeks later if no candidate wins a majority of the vote. The country will hold a parliamentary election on Dec. 1, its national day.
Mircea Geoană steps down from top NATO job, ahead of expected presidential bid
