The first poll for the presidential elections carried out after the June 9 local and European elections indicates that prime minister Marcel Ciolacu, the head of the Social Democratic (PSD) party, leads against his main rivals at a substantial margin.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The poll carried out by Sociopol shows Ciolacu at 31%, twice the score of independent candidate Mircea Geoana (15%), the leader of all recent presidential polls.<\/p>\n
George Simion (17%), the leader of the nationalist party AUR, ranks second in the poll with a score that is plausible given his party\u2019s performance in the June 9 ballots.<\/p>\n
The Liberals\u2019 candidate Nicolae Ciuca (13%) lags behind Geoana and Simion, but is among the three candidates that would potentially make it to the second round.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The poll doesn\u2019t include Elena Lasconi or any other candidate of the reformist party USR.<\/p>\n