(3 Nov 2014) Near-final results show that Romania's centre-left prime minister will face a city mayor in the runoff for the presidency after no candidate secured a majority of the vote.
With some 91 percent of the votes counted early Monday, Prime Minister Victor Ponta had won 40 percent of the vote while the mayor of Sibiu, Klaus Iohannis, had 30.5 percent.
Romanians are electing a new leader as President Traian Basescu steps down after 10 years.
Ponta, 42, says if he wins there will be stability and an end to bitter feuding between the prime minister and the president.
Iohannis, 55, who is centre-right, says he will guarantee an independent justice system and the rule of law.
There are concerns that if Ponta wins the election, the Social Democratic Party will tighten its grip on power.
It will then control the Parliament, the government and the influential post of president.
Critics are concerned that Ponta will be less committed to the fight against corruption than the outgoing Basescu who leaves office in December.
Final results are expected later Monday.
The runoff will be on November 16.
Analyst Andrei Taranu said both candidates are also interested in the issue of Moldova.
Basescu had pushed for a union between the two countries, saying earlier this year that Russia has created a chain of conflicts around the Black Sea to further President Vladimir Putin's goal of rebuilding the former Soviet Union along its former border with the West.
Ponta shares Basescu's views on Moldova.
"Romania will have to play a very interesting political game," said Taranu.
"It will need German and European support to bring more attention towards Moldova. It will also need US support to have the security guarantees in case of bigger tensions with Russia."
Moldovans began to travel to Europe without visas in April, a victory for the former Soviet republic's pro-European government which is seeking to join the European Union and pursing an association agreement with the 28-nation bloc.
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