Giorge Simion, the candidate of the nationalist party “Alliance for the Unification of Romanians“ (AUR), leads with 40.96 percent in the first round of the presidential elections in Romania, held yesterday. This is shown by the final data published this morning by the Permanent Electoral Authority after processing 100% of the protocols, the Romanian edition of "Free Europe" reports, BTA reports.
In second place is the mayor of Bucharest and independent candidate Nikusor Dan with 20.99 percent of the votes. The ruling coalition's candidate, Crin Antonescu, came in third with 20.07 percent, followed by independent Victor Ponta with 13.05 percent. Elena Lasconi of the opposition Union for the Salvation of Romania received 2.68 percent.
A total of 11 candidates participated in the presidential race, which was repeated after Romania's Constitutional Court annulled the results of the previous first round late last year. The reason was suspicions of foreign interference in the electoral process.