(16 Nov 2014) Thousands of Romanians took to the streets around the country to demand the resignation of the prime minister after he conceded defeat on Sunday night in an presidential runoff.
Victor Ponta had been the favourite to win, but was narrowly edged out by Klaus Iohannis, the mayor of the city of Sibiu who promised a crackdown on corruption.
Ponta said he had personally congratulated Iohannis.
In the capital, protesters marched from the city centre to the government headquarters, demanding Ponta to step down.
Ponta called on some 15,000 protesters gathered outside his offices to listen to his message in an apparent attempt to defuse tensions over difficulties encountered by expatriate Romanians voting abroad.
Protests turned into celebrations after the first exit polls were announced at 9 p.m. local time (1900 GMT).
Romanians gathered in Bucharest to celebrate Iohannis' victory, waving Romanian flags and calling for a better life.
"Thanks to you, another kind of Romania is beginning," Iohannis said on his Facebook page.
Later that evening, Iohannis went to shake hands with people gathered in a square in Bucharest where demonstrators were shot dead during Romania's 1989 revolution.
During this electoral campaign, Iohannis, 55, promised an independent justice system.
In Romania, the president is in charge of foreign policy and defence, and names key prosecutors and the chiefs of intelligence services.
Find out more about AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
Twitter: [ Ссылка ]
Facebook: [ Ссылка ]
Instagram: [ Ссылка ]
You can license this story through AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
