Klaus Iohannis announced on Monday his resignation as President of Romania.

He said he will leave office on February 12.

„In order to spare Romania and the Romanian citizens from this crisis, from this negative evolution, I resign as President of Romania. I will leave office the day after tomorrow, on February 12,” Klaus Iohannis told a press conference held at the Cotroceni Presidential Palace on Monday.

The suspension procedure is a „useless”, „unfounded” and „painful” step, Iohannis said.

„It is a useless demarche because in a few months I will be leaving office, anyway, after the election of the new president. It is an unfounded demarche, because I have never violated the Constitution. And it is a detrimental demarche, because everybody loses, nobody wins. In a few days, Romania’s Parliament will vote on my suspension and Romania will go into crisis, because the referendum to impeach the President will be triggered. This whole endeavor will have internal and, unfortunately, also external consequences,” said the president.

He mentioned that internally, the referendum will be „eminently negative”, because society will be divided.

„Some will agree, some will disagree. The whole discussion will be one focused only on the negative. The whole of society will be in turmoil. There will be no more discussion about the upcoming presidential election. There will be no discussion about how Romania will go forward. The candidates will not even be able to present their ideas in this negative amalgam. Externally, the effects will be lasting and very negative. Absolutely none of our partners will understand why Romania is dismissing its president, after the procedure for electing a new president has, in fact already begun. Absolutely no one will understand the point of such a step when the incumbent president will leave anyway. We will be the laughing stock of the world,” Klaus Iohannis added.

AGERPRES