A third request to suspend Iohannis from office was set to be discussed and voted upon in the country’s parliament on Tuesday. Romanian President Klaus Iohannis resigned from office on Monday in a move he said was to prevent the country from entering a crisis that would ensue as the parliament was expected to vote for his impeachment.
“To spare Romania and its citizens from this crisis, I am resigning from the office of President of Romania. I will leave office the day after tomorrow, 12 February,” Iohannis said in a statement on Monday.
In office since 2014, Iohannis has already served a maximum of two five-year terms. However, his presidency was extended after the Constitutional Court in December cancelled the results of the presidential race in which controversial ultranationalist Calin Georgescu unexpectedly won the first round.
Georgescu’s win was marred by allegations of Russian interference and electoral violations after it emerged that an online sleeper network had artificially propped up his social media reach in the run-up to the vote.
The country’s parliament was expected to discuss and vote on a third request to suspend Iohannis from office on Tuesday. Two earlier requests, put forward by opposition parties, were rejected for procedural reasons.
This time, a group of ultranationalist parties — the Party of Young People (POT), the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), and SOS, joined by MPs of the Save Romania Union (USR) — managed to gather enough signatures to put forward the motion.
The Senate chief will become interim president of Romania following Ioannis’ resignation.
SOURCE: EURONEWS
