BUCHAREST, Romania – An ethnic German mayor who defeated Romania’s prime minister in a presidential runoff said his victory signalled “a deep change” in Romania.
As thousands of people in Bucharest celebrated his surprise victory over Victor Ponta, Klaus Iohannis said “the time for work has begun.”
The mayor of the Transylvanian city of Sibiu has promised to crack down on corruption and guarantee an independent justice system.
“I will be president of Romanians, a free president,” he said in first comments Monday. “I will change the way politics is done in Romania.”
With some 96 per cent of the votes counted, Iohannis was leading with about 54.66 per cent early Monday.
Late Sunday, Ponta conceded defeat.
“Thanks to you, another kind of Romania is beginning,” Iohannis, 55, said on his Facebook page.
Some 15,000 people originally gathered to protest difficulties encountered by expatriate Romanians voting abroad. But the protest turned into a celebration as Iohannis walked through the jubilant crowd gathered in a square where demonstrators were shot dead during Romania’s 1989 revolution.
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