Romanian President Klaus Iohannis has unexpectedly stepped down, following the initiation of an impeachment procedure by the Parliament in Bucharest. Iohannis, who has held the presidency since 2014, was initially set to leave office after the chaotic presidential elections in Romania last year, but his term was temporarily extended. As a result, Senate President Ilie Bolojan will take over the office of the head of state on a provisional basis from Wednesday.
Iohannis announced on Monday that he would resign to spare the country a political crisis, as the Constitution stipulates that an impeachment procedure would be followed by a recall referendum. According to media reports, the government coalition, comprising the National Liberal Party PNL and the PSD (Social Democrats), had advised the president to step down earlier.
Officially, Iohannis’s second term was set to end last year, making it impossible for him to run for re-election. In 2014, his first term was still supported by the PNL, but Iohannis is now seen as a potential liability for the government parties in the upcoming election campaign.
The Constitutional Court in Bucharest had previously ruled that Iohannis could remain in office until the next elections, scheduled for May 4, after the presidential elections in December were declared invalid. The court annulled the election following the surprise first-round victory of outsider candidate Călin Georgescu in the previous year. The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has also rejected an emergency appeal by the defeated, right-wing Romanian presidential candidate and NATO critic Călin Georgescu against the annulment of his first-round victory.