The Social Democratic Party (PSD), which topped the poll, reached agreement late on Tuesday to form a grand coalition with the right-wing National Liberal Party (PNL), the Save Romania Union party (USR) and the small Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR) party.

The parliamentary election came hard on the heels of a presidential vote in which the far-right outsider Calin Georgescu won the first round held on November 24.. His surprise success plunged Romania into turmoil as allegations of a “Russian influence campaign” on TikTok were used by the Constitutional Court to annul the Presidential polls.

A statement from the new coalition said the parties would potentially support a “common pro-European candidate” in the new presidential elections. President Klaus Iohannis, whose second term is set to expire later this month, said a new date for the rerun presidential election would be set once the new government has taken office.

The coalition statement said: “In the coming days, the four parties and the representatives of the national minorities will work on a joint governing programme, focusing on development and reforms, while addressing the priorities of Romanian citizens.”

Elena Lasconi, the leader of USR who was set to face Georgescu in the annulled presidential run-off, said after the agreement was reached that “Romania is going through a very difficult” period and that cutting public spending and deregulation would be part of the governing programme.

In 2021, despite historically being Romania’s two main opposition parties, the PSD and the PNL formed an unlikely but increasingly strained coalition together with UDMR, which exited the Cabinet last year after a power-sharing dispute

Barely a month ago, Georgescu was almost unheard of inside his own country, with no party backing and a low profile in traditional media.. But all this changed in the three weeks before the first round of the presidential elections on November 24. The upsurge in social media, especially TikTok in his favour led to huge voting in favour of Georgescu making him a likely winner in the final round.

President Iohannis, who hails from another center-right party, received evidence from the secret intelligence services indicating that both state and nonstate actors had interfered in the election, and named Russia as responsible for a series of aggressive hybrid attacks. The United States upheld findings of Russian involvement.

Acting on the intelligence, President Iohannis declassified secret files that alleged Georgescu had unlawfully benefited from extensive electoral promotion during periods when campaigning was prohibited. The documents alleged his campaign had received foreign financial support, despite the fact he declared he’d spent nothing on it.

The pro-EU Lasconi enjoyed support from the centrist traditional parties, while Georgescu was backed by three far-right groups, two of which have recently entered parliament.

His positions on NATO and the EU — he has been highly critical of Romania’s involvement in both — stoked fears that he would rip up the country’s Western alliances and turn instead toward Moscow. He has praised Russian President Vladimir Putin as a leader and a patriot, and vowed to end all Romanian aid to neighboring Ukraine. He is a big supporter of Donald Trump.

Millions of Romanians were attracted to Georgescu’s traditionalist campaign and had been ready to vote for him on the runoff against Lasconi. He won more than 2.1 million votes in the first round when competing against seven other main candidates, after campaigning his belief in traditional values and his Romanian Orthodox faith.

Georgescu now says he’s a victim of a plot by the political elite to keep him out of power and thwart the will of the people, likening his treatment to that of Donald Trump by the establishment in the United States. . . Now the big question is the fixing of the date of the postponed Presidential elections in the country and what will be the response of the electorate of this East European nation to the new Presidential polls. (IPA Service)