The resignation announcement comes after centrist Iohannis was threatened with impeachment by parliamentarians from the country's far-right, reports Reuters.
To avoid a crisis for Romania and the Romanian people... I am resigning from the presidency, says Iohannis, according to AFP, and adds that he will formally step down on Wednesday.
The 65-year-old Klaus Iohannis has been president since 2014 and has held the two terms allowed by law. He would have resigned on December 21. But the second round of the presidential election, which aimed to elect his successor, scheduled for December 8, was cancelled by Romania's highest court.
This was due to allegations of Russian influence. The highest court ruled in a surprising decision that the first round of voting was invalid due to irregularities. The decision stated that the presidential election must be re-held and Iohannis was asked to stay on until then.
The first round of voting is now scheduled to take place on May 4. A second round will be held on May 18, if no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the votes in the first round.
