Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu resigned on Monday, a day after a far-right opposition leader won the first round of the presidential election re-run and his own candidate crashed out of the race.

George Simion, leader of the hard-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians, emerged as the clear frontrunner in Romania ’s presidential election redo, securing 40.5 per cent of the vote with nearly all ballots counted. The vote followed last year’s annulled election marred by allegations of fraud.

Romania’s hard-right nationalist George Simion will face a pro-Western reformist in a pivotal runoff in two weeks after decisively winning the most votes in the first round of the presidential electio