BUCHAREST, MAY 12 (AFP/APP/DNA):After triumphing in the first round of the presidential election, Romania’s far-right candidate George Simion is tipped to win this weekend’s run-off unless his pro-European rival can mobilise the masses who abstained last time.
Simion — a big fan of US President Donald Trump — did better than expected in the first round, taking 40.9 percent of the vote on May 4.
The 38-year-old is slated to take about 55 percent in Sunday’s vote, according to the only poll published so far.
Trailing far behind is the centrist mayor of Bucharest Nicusor Dan.
Dan, 55, hopes undecided voters will turn out for him in a bid to prevent a nationalist shift under the eurosceptic Simion, who opposes sending aid to neighbouring Ukraine.
The ballot will be closely watched internationally following the rare annulment of the vote held in November in the European Union country of 19 million people, which is a key NATO member.
“Simion is clearly the favourite,” Remus Stefureac, director of the polling company INSCOP Research, told AFP.
He secured “twice as many votes as his rival in the first round” due in part to his popularity among expatriate voters, he said.
Simion is also likely to benefit from Dan not having the explicit backing of the pro-European camp, which had supported another candidate.
But concern among voters about the potential political and economic implications of a far-right victory might work in Dan’s favour.
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