(Adnkronos) – Romanian President Klaus Iohannis has announced his resignation after opposition forces succeeded in initiating impeachment proceedings against him. Local media report that Iohannis explained that he made the decision to “spare Romania and its citizens this crisis,” stating that he will officially leave office “the day after tomorrow, February 12.”
Iohannis’ mandate, which officially expired on December 21st, had been extended after the Constitutional Court – following the first round of the presidential elections and the surprise success of pro-Russian candidate Calin Georgescu – declared the entire electoral process null and void. According to the high court judges, some voters were victims of misinformation on social media, particularly TikTok. New elections have been set for May 4th, with a possible runoff scheduled two weeks later.
According to the Constitution, the President of the Senate, Ilie Bolojan, will take over as interim president and will hold this position until the election of the new head of state. The centrist Iohannis explained that the opposition’s request to suspend him would have been “a harmful move. Soon, the Romanian Parliament would have voted on my suspension and Romania would have entered into crisis. The whole society would have been shaken. There would have been no more discussions about the presidential elections. We would have been the laughingstock of the world. To spare Romania this crisis, I resign from the office of President of Romania. The resignation will take effect in two days”.
