Elena Lasconi, a centrist mayor on Monday vowed to keep Romania on its pro-Europan path as she entered a presidential runoff after a nail-biting recount of the votes.
The Constitutional Court controversially ruled on a recount four days after the November 24 first round which was won by Euro skeptic Calin Georgescu, a victory that sent shockwaves through the political establishment.
After days of waiting and conflicting reports of whether Mrs Lasconi would make it to the runoff, the court validated the November 24 first round. The centrist mayor narrowly defeated Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu and there were fears election authorities might try to overturn the result in his favor_ something they ultimately didn’t.
„Thank you for not playing Russian roulette with Romanian democracy,”she said.
She called for discussions with Romania’s political leaders including Mr. Ciolacu who is the chairman of the Social Democratic Party which won more votes than any other party in Sunday’s parliamentary election. Mr. Ciolacu who said he was resigning after he came third in presidential election on Monday, said he’d changed his mind a week later.
“We don’t need a link but a statesman to take responsibility for Romania’s democratic path,”she said.
Her comments came after three nationalist parties made massive gains in December 1 parliamentary elections, taking about one-third of the seats, a historic best for them.
The presidential runoff is on December 8, as originally scheduled.
