UPDATE 9:30 – Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta extended his lead in the first round of the presidential elections over his main opponent, Klaus Iohannis, according to partial results presented by the Central Electoral Bureau (BEC) on Monday, at 9:00. Victor Ponta had a little over 40% of the votes, while Iohannis took 30.6% of the votes, new data from BEC reveals. More than 91% of the votes have already been counted.

Former Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu came third, with 5.46% of the votes, followed by Elena Udrea, the president of the Popular Movemnt Party (PMP), with 5.17% of the votes. Udrea had President Traian Basescu’s support in the presidential campaign. Independent Monica Macovei, former justice minister in Tariceanu’s cabinet, came fifth, with 4.51% of the votes. Three other candidates got between 3% and 4% of the votes.

Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta (left) and Sibiu’s mayor Klaus Iohannis (right) made it to the second round of the presidential elections which will take place on November 16, according to partial results presented by the Central Electoral Bureau (BEC), at 5:00 on Monday morning.

Ponta got 39.6% of the votes while Iohannis got 30.2%, according to data available at 5:00 on Monday morning, with more than half of the votes counted.

The other candidates were far behind: none of them had more than 6% of the votes.

editor@romania-insider.com