Romanians set to re-elect president

Bloomberg

Romanians are set to re-elect president Klaus Iohannis, who’s promising to bring normality after years of political chaos.
Voting ran from 7 am to 9 pm on Sunday in Bucharest, after which exit polls were expected to be released. Iohannis, 60, easily won a first round two weeks ago and is widely expected to defeat his runoff opponent, ex-prime minister Viorica Dancila.
The incumbent is favourite having sided with the biggest protests since communism in opposing government attempts to decriminalise low-level corruption. The pushback helped land the ruling-party boss
behind bars and prevent Romania from joining Hungary and Poland in risking European Union punishment over the rule of law.
But Iohannis will get fewer votes than when he was first elected in 2014 as Romanians vent at a lack of progress to address longstanding gripes like poor infrastructure and healthcare. Many still leave for higher-paid work in western Europe.
“I’ll be fully involved in building a normal country,” Iohannis said. “That’s not just a campaign slogan. It means prosperity, economic growth, better-paying jobs and the citizen at the core of the system.”
The Black Sea nation is no stranger to political turbulence: it’s had more prime ministers than any other EU member-state in the three decades
since it violently shook off communist rule.
Iohannis is planning a more conventional second term, working with his allies in the new Liberal Party government to improve schools, hospitals and roads. Romania’s quality of life was recently ranked the EU’s worst. But his goals aren’t easy to attain.
Prime minister Ludovic Orban’s minority government could struggle to undo the legal changes that put Romania at odds with the EU and helped
release hundreds of criminals from prison.
While the threat of sanctions has receded, the bloc recently maintained monitoring of the judiciary. That measure has been in place since Romania joined the EU in 2007, blocking membership of the passport-free Schengen area.