Iohannis made his decision following mounting pressure from far right opposition groups.
Romania’s outgoing centrist President Klaus Iohannis has resigned amid a concerted push by far-right parliamentary parties to have him impeached in the wake of a contentious election.
Iohannis announced his decision on Monday, following mounting pressure from populist opposition groups.
“To spare Romania from this crisis, I am resigning as president of Romania,” he said in an emotional address, adding that he will leave office on February 12.
His resignation comes two months after a top court annulled a presidential election in the European Union country amid allegations of Russian meddling and after a previously little-known, far-right candidate – Calin Georgescu – won a surprise first-round victory.
Last month, tens of thousands of Romanians took to the streets in several protests called by the far right to protest the vote cancellation, with some demanding for Iohannis to resign.
With the two rounds of the election set to be rerun on May 4 and May 18, Romania’s top court had said Iohannis, whose second and last term expired on December 21, would stay on until his successor was elected.
But in January, three far-right opposition parties, which control about 35 percent of parliament, filed a motion to impeach Iohannis.
MPs on Monday also launched a procedure to suspend Iohannis, following two previous attempts by the opposition to start the process.
“In a few days, the Romanian Parliament will vote on my suspension and Romania will go into crisis … This whole endeavour will have effects internally and unfortunately also externally,” Iohannis said.
Several opposition parties, including the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), the nationalist SOS party and the Party of Young People – but also some members of the reformist Save Romania Union party – sought Iohannis’s removal. Some lawmakers from the governing coalition were also expected to vote in favour.
“This is a useless endeavour because, in any case, I will leave office in a few months after the election of the new president,” Iohannis said.
“It is an unfounded move because I have never – I repeat, never – violated the constitution.”
Far-right AUR party leader George Simion welcomed the president’s resignation.
“It’s your [the people’s] victory! Now it’s time to get back [to] round two,” Simion posted on Facebook.
Senate president and liberal leader, Ilie Bolojan, is expected to replace Iohannis.