Sibiu’s mayor, Klaus Iohannis, has emerged as leftist Prime Minister Victor Ponta’s strongest challenger in a forthcoming Romanian presidential election, an opinion poll showed on Monday, writes Reuters.
A survey by INSCOP conducted between July 1 and 6 with 1,055 respondents nationwide, showed both likely contenders would likely fail to garner enough votes to avoid a Nov. 16 runoff ballot.
PM Ponta received 43.6 percent support, followed by Iohannis with 31.2 percent. A distant third was opposition leader and former prime minister Mihai Razvan Ungureanu with 9.6 percent.
Ponta would win the presidential runoff with 52.8 percent, cementing his Social Democrat Party’s dominance.
Analysts say no clear winner can be yet predicted but that the two will likely meet in the runoff.
“The battle will be tight. Iohannis also stands a chance if the premier starts making mistakes,” said political analyst Mircea Marian who added that a surprise candidacy able to dilute the vote cannot be entirely ruled out.
Socialist party leader Victor Ponta said earlier in the month that he will very probably announce his official intent to run for president on August 1. Both Klaus Iohannis and Crin Antonescu, PNL’s former chairman, have accepted at the end of last month to be proposed as PNL’s candidates for the presidential seat.