Hand-over in the President’s Office
Outgoing president Klaus Iohannis hands over to Ilie Bolojan, who will act as interim president.
Bogdan Matei, 13.02.2025, 14:00
Klaus Iohannis on Wednesday ended his second and final term in office as president of Romania. Senate speaker and National Party leader Ilie Bolojan took over, stepping down from both of these roles for the time being as so as be politically neutral, at least officially. He will act as interim president, as ruled by the Constitutional Court following the resignation of Klaus Iohannis on Monday.
Ilie Bolojan was born in 1969 in Bihor county, in the west, near the border with Ukraine. He has a background in mechanics and mathematics. He joined the National Liberal Party in 1993. He is seen as one of the best local public administration experts and won three mayor elections in the small city of Oradea between 2008 and 2020. From 2020 until last year when he was elected to the Senate, he served as president of the Bihor County Council.
As interim president, Bolojan will have limited responsibilities: he will not be able to address Parliament on the main political matters of the nation, will not be able to launch formal process to dissolve Parliament and will not be able to call a national referendum.
A member of Romania’s ethnic German minority, the outgoing president Klaus Iohannis also served as mayor before being elected to the highest office, as mayor of the central city of Sibiu. He won his first term as president of the country in 2014 and the second five years later. He was due to leave office on 21st December 2024, but his stay was extended as the Constitutional Court annulled the entire process to elect a new president. As a result, the presidential elections will be repeated, with the first round to be held on 4th May and the second on the 18th of May.
The president’s office website has published the achievements of Iohannis’ two terms in office. According to the document, which is 1,500 pages long, during his first term, he constantly supported the need to strengthen democratic mechanisms and combat corruption. He initiated a project entitled “Educated Romania”, which resulted in new legislation in the field, signed into law during his second term. Among his achievements are also listed his essential role in guiding the nation amid unprecedented crises, the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in neighbouring Ukraine.
According to opinion polls, however, only 5% of people in Romania have any faith left in Iohannis. Ordinary citizens, journalists and pundits all agree that, despite being in office for a decade, Iohannis has had in fact no notable achievement. They also criticise him for his arrogance, indolence, a taste for opulence, his pointless foreign tours and poor communication skills. Beyond the changing views of the local media vis-a-vis a politician they either glorified, or demonised, British historian Tom Gallagher, who is well acquainted with Romania, wrote that Iohannis “proved a largely worthless Head of State”.
