Over 80% of Romanians believe that Romania’s newly elected President Klaus Iohannis will implement the promises made during the electoral campaign, according to a study conducted by IRES, which is called Political Romania after the Elections.

Almost 30% of the respondents say Iohannis will for sure implement his promises, while 53% believe that this is rather likely to happen. Only 14% of Romanians think that Iohannis will not implement his promises, the study reveals.

The first measure the new President should take, in the opinion of most of the respondents, is related to the creation of new jobs – 15.2%. The next measure considered a priority is fighting corruption – 13.9%.

More than 60% of Romanians say they trust President-elect Klaus Iohannis, and the Presidency as an institution, while only 27% say they trust Prime Minister Victor Ponta, the loser of the presidential elections, or his Government. However, only 32% of Romanians agree with Iohannis changing the Government and giving power to the liberal party (PNL), while 62% don’t agree.

A total of 37% are sure that Romania will benefit from support from Germany because Iohannis is a German ethnic, while 43% believe this is likely to happen. Moreover, 40% of the respondents say that Germany should be the first country Klaus Iohannis should visit after taking over the position of President.

One in two Romanians believes that the new President shouldn’t continue the projects of the current President Traian Basescu. At the same time, 40% think that Iohannis should continue Basescu’s projects, while 12% couldn’t give an answer.

About 55% of the Romanians think that Romania is going in the right direction, while only 34% now think that Romania is going the wrong way. Before the elections, only 24% of Romanians thought that Romania was going in the right direction.

The survey was conducted on November 20 on a sample of 1,338 people aged over 18.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com