2024 Romanian presidential election

Presidential elections will be held in Romania on 15 September 2024, with a possible second round to be held on 29 September if no candidate receives over 50% of the vote.[1][2] They will be the ninth presidential elections held in post-1989 Romania. As the Romanian Constitution allows a maximum of two presidential terms (consecutive or not), incumbent President of Romania Klaus Iohannis, first elected in 2014 and then re-elected in 2019, is not eligible for re-election. His second (and last) term will formally end in December 2024.

2024 Romanian presidential election

← 201915 September 2024
Opinion polls

Incumbent President

Klaus Iohannis
Independent



Nevertheless, there was a speculation according to which the forthcoming Romanian presidential elections might have occurred earlier than to term, assuming that incumbent President Klaus Iohannis would have been nominated as Secretary General of NATO and that he would have accepted the nomination in the meantime, then the next Romanian presidential elections would have likely taken place in 2023 instead of 2024.[3] However, this is not possible as incumbent Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, will remain in this international position for one more year, until the end of his term scheduled to take place in October 2024.[4]

Candidates

National Liberal Party (PNL)

President Klaus Iohannis is not eligible for another candidacy, therefore the party needs to find another suitable candidate. Former Prime Minister and former PNL president Ludovic Orban stated in Tecuci, Galați County, on 22 May 2021, that he does not "rule out" a candidacy in 2024.[5] On 25 June 2021, then-Prime Minister Florin Cîțu stated in Piatra Neamț that he is "currently not considering" a presidential candidacy.[6] Furthermore, fellow party leaders consider proposing the incumbent president Klaus Iohannis as Prime Minister, after his presidential term ends in 2024.[7]

Social Democratic Party (PSD)

In a televised talk show, on 24 April 2021, the party leader Marcel Ciolacu stated that "is very likely" that the party president (himself, at that time) will not run for president in 2024.[8] Asked about considering a presidential candidacy, member of the Chamber of Deputies, Alexandru Rafila vaguely answered on 4 July 2021 "never say never", but underlined that running for president is "definitely not my goal".[9] In another televised talk show, former Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu stated that the party is "going for the win" in all elections scheduled in 2024 (legislative elections, local elections, European Parliament elections, and presidential elections) and he "did not rule out" that Mircea Geoană could be, yet again, the party's presidential candidate.[10] Mircea Geoană ran for president in 2009, but narrowly lost in the second round to Traian Băsescu, who was then re-elected for a second and last term. According to ongoing speculation, Mircea Geoană might very well run for presidency in 2024, but it is yet unclear if he will receive PSD support, according to incumbent PSD president Marcel Ciolacu.[11][12]

Save Romania Union (USR)

Former 2019 candidate Dan Barna (and party co-president) stated in several interviews in April 2021 that his candidacy is "not ruled out" and that his candidacy is a "real scenario".[13] Party co-president Dacian Cioloș stated in an interview, on 18 February 2021, that he is also considering running in 2024.[14] On 1 October 2021, Cioloș stated that his objective is to win the 2024 presidential election, claiming that he is willing to candidate as well.[15]

People's Movement Party (PMP)

Cristian Diaconescu, then newly elected president of the party in early 2021, was designated the party's presidential candidate.[16] However, some analysts believed that Mihail Neamțu, a current member of the PMP, might run for presidency instead, either as an independent (with PMP support) or as a candidate from another party.[17] On 23 March 2022, Cristian Diaconescu was excluded from the party by the new leadership, thus losing his presidential candidate status previously granted by the PMP.[18]

Force of the Right (FD)

On 28 June 2022, former Prime Minister, former PNL president, and current Force of the Right (FD) leader Ludovic Orban officially announced that he will run for president in 2024, also stating that he doesn't want to support any other candidate, being tremendously disappointed by incumbent President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis.[19] Thus, Orban becomes the second former PNL president to run for the Romanian presidency supported by a breakaway faction of the PNL after Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu (Prime Minister between 2004 and 2008) who ran on behalf of the Liberal Reformist Party (PLR; one of the predecessors of the Romanian ALDE founded in 2015 through a merger with the Conservative Party (PC) and subsequently absorbed by the PNL in March 2022) in 2014, during that year's presidential elections.

Green Party (Verzii)

In 2019, the president of the Green Party at the time, Florin Calinescu, declared that he wanted to run for the presidency in 2024.[20] In the meantime, in 2022, a new leadership of the Green Party was elected, together with the relaunch of the formation on September 3, 2022 In February 2024, the Green Party conveyed that it considers Mircea Geoana to be the only candidate with a real chance of winning the Presidency of Romania and who addresses green issues, taking into account his support in the presidential elections.[21][22]

Declared candidates

These individuals have openly and unequivocally stated their intention to run and are currently interested (have not afterward downgraded their status to "Considering").

Publicly expressed interest

These individuals have not declared their clear intention to run, but are considering a candidacy.

Potential candidates

These individuals have been subject to public speculation and/or vague declarations made by themselves, but have publicly yet to firmly deny or confirm their interest in running for president.

Withdrawn candidate

These individuals have been official candidates or considered their candidacies, but withdrew from the race or lost the support of their party and, so far, have not reconsidered their plans.

Declined to be candidates

These individuals have been the subject of speculation, but have publicly denied or recanted their interest in running for president. Also, individuals that were subject to public speculation, but are legally barred from running for president are included here.

Timeline

Intention
Considering
Withdrawn candidate
2020 local elections
2020 parliamentary elections
2024 European elections
BEC filing deadline (approximate)
First round (approximate)
Cristian DiaconescuCătălin DrulăMarcel CiolacuAndrei Marga

Diana Iovanovici ȘoșoacăCălin GeorgescuDan BarnaDacian CioloșVictor Ponta

Nicolae CiucăLudovic OrbanRemus Cernea

Opinion polls

Approval ratings for Klaus Iohannis

Polling firmFieldwork dateSample sizeKlaus Iohannis

(PNL)

Y N ?Net
INSCOP20–27 Nov 20231,10016.283.8−67.6
CURSJun 20238902−82
IRES7–12 Dec 20221,6152179−58
LARICS1–10 Oct 20211,00222.677.10.3−54.5
Avangarde14–21 Sep 202190028.052.020.0−24.0
CURS12–20 Aug 20211,10032.068.05.0−59.0
CURS11–18 Jun 20211,06733.067.0−34.0
CURS14–17 Apr 20211,10735.058.07.0−23.0
BCS11 Apr 20211,42064.630.94.533.7

Notes

References