You're reading: The Economist: Romania’s elections – Transylvanian surprise

In a world where politics often seem locked down by political scientists and campaign consultants, it is nice to be surprised once in a while. Opinion polls leading up to Romania's presidential elections on Nov. 16 all predicted a clear victory for Victor Ponta, the Socialist prime minister, whose massive billboards and broadcast-media appearances had dominated the campaign. The polls were wrong. Romanians voted solidly for Klaus Iohannis, the no-nonsense mayor of Sibiu, a town in Transylvania. 

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