WHO IS THE NEW PRESIDENT? Iohannis or "May God grant it!"

President Klaus Iohannis's last name is of Hebrew origin, having become part of the German language through the Greek word "Ioannes" (which is where Romanian name "Ioan" comes from), having later evolved into the late Latin "Joannes", followed by medieval latin "Johannes".

In its original, Hebrew form, the name was spelled "y'hohanan" (later, "Yohanan") and is derived from YHWH - the sign used by the Jewish god, which is forbidden from being spoken (it is replaced with "Adonai": "My Lord"), adopted up as "Yahwe"( "I am the one that is"), combined with "hanan" - which has a meaning similar to "mercy".

From that, we get the complex variant "y'hohanan", which has the meaning of "God had mercy" or "God had pity" or "God has given" or "God granted favor". The latter version seems to be the most appropriate to describe the "mystical" manner in which Klaus Iohannis has become the president of Romania, in spite of the polls, in spite of the state machinery controlled by his opponent, prime-minister Victor Ponta, and even despite the pathetic level of his own performance in the direct confrontations with his opponent.

Without God's mercy, it would have been impossible.

The "mystical" aura around Klaus Iohannis has persisted, however, after his victory in the elections, and on the next day he imperatively urged the Parliament to withdraw the Law of Amnesty and to revoke the immunity of the indicted MPs, which the usually stubborn Parliament, miraculously did.

All the TV networks, regardless of who they were serving up until now, have shifted their stance and started singing his praises and all the politicians who had been throwing rotten eggs at him (including Traian Băsescu) started bowing down to him.

Now, Klaus Iohannis is the embodiment of our mystical hope that Romania will change for the better, that the corrupt will be swept away and that things will be done well, like we have wanted it for centuries.

May God grant it!

After all, I don't reject the idea that anyone can start a new life, including Iohannis. (MAKE, translated by Cosmin Ghidoveanu)

The enthusiasm

November 16th

Journalist Ion Cristoiu said: "Klaus Iohannis has brought into this campaign a different type of politician than the one we have become accustomed to in the years after the revolution, as well as in the period between the two world wars: the one that doesn't want to trick the people into giving him their votes."

November 17th

France Press: "Klaus Iohannis is an atypical personality on the political stage: of German ethnicity, of protestant denomination, in a country where almost 90% of the population is orthodox, allergic to polemics and befuddled in front of the cameras. [...] Immediately after the elections, this man, whom those close to him describe as rigorous and determined, has proven that he is not willing to take any steps back when it comes to the promises he made during the electoral campaign".

November 17th

Joseph Daul, the president of the People's European Party (PPE): "Iohannis will keep Romania on the path to democracy and will lead it with the interest of the Romanian people in mind".

November 18th

- Mihai Gâdea: "Iohannis' victory was clear, the huge number of votes has removed any doubt. This vote reminds us of a bigger vote which went in a different direction, a vote that clearly shows how illegitimate Băsescu is."

"I would like to take a moment, out of these ten years of madness, to listen to Klaus Iohannis, to see if the possibility of something actually being built exists", Gâdea said, at the end of a show that contrasted heavily with the rhetoric they were using before the elections.

- Rareş Bogdan: "He banked on < Romania where things get done well >, but he won the elections by successfully embodying the key-message of his opponent: < the president that unites >". People couldn't take the political boorishness, the arrogance and corruption anymore, and they have rallied behind the one who promised them they would no longer be tricked."

-Mihail Neamţu, the president of the New Republic Party: "The prime-minister did nothing but spew arrogance, self-contentedness and contempt. The coy German placed simple facts before carefully chosen words. Romanians have chosen. Respect has defeated cheek. Decency defeated boorishness!"

-Radu F. Alexandru: "In the country of < it'll work somehow >, in the country where the prime-minister has no clue about essential questions that the people will have to bear, and yet he is convinced that < we'll be fine >, Iohannis has promised, as an alternative, < Romania where things get done well >, Romania where honesty, professionalism, responsibility would become the politician's distinctive features. I don't know whether this idea was his or it came from one of the members of his staff, after all it doesn't even matter anymore, but the moment the mayor of Sibiu made a commitment to it he became the top contender for Romania's presidency. Will he succeed in honoring his commitment? Will he manage to tear down a common practice that most Romanians hate nowadays?"

November 18th

Klaus Iohannis' official Facebook has surpassed 1 million likes, making the president of the PNL the top ranking European politician, above Angela Merkel, Nicolas Sarkozy, Francois Hollande, David Cameron, Jean-Claude Juncker, Jose Manuel Barroso, Tony Blair, as well as American leaders John McCain and Joe Biden.

November 18th

-Rareş Bogdan: "Klaus Iohannis is a PRESIDENT that can connect us to Germany's interest."

-PNL vice-president Sorin Frunzăverde claims that the vote in favor of Klaus Iohannis was one for "the re-democratization of Romania, a vote for dismantling the police state and for restoring the entrepreneurial spirit of the country's citizens". "According to my experiences abroad, in Washington or Brussels, Iohannis has been received and seen as such, as an option for the re-democratization of Romania, as a normal, man, as a mediator-president, who would give citizens back their entrepreneurial spirit", the PNL vice-president further said.

November 19th

- "The victory of Klaus Iohannis grants the hope for a future of tolerance and may contribute to a more consistent position of the European Union in its relations with Russia, as his rise to the presidency is a clear sign that politicians that abuse their power will not remain unpunished", Financial Times writes.

According to Financial Times, Klaus Iohannis's victory may be the best political event in Europe, this year. The publication also notes that under the leadership of center-politician of German ethnicity, who has excellent relations with German chancellor Angela Merkel, Romania could contribute to a more consistent, united position of the EU in its relations with Russia.

November 20th

-Simona Halep has invited Klaus Iohannis to sing the national anthem together with the players on the Nation's team in the match against Spain, which will be held in February 2015, in Galaţi, in the Federation's Cup, and the president elect has accepted the invitation.

November 20th

After the results of the election were announced, one pizza shop in the Sânnicoară village, in the county of Cluj, put up for sale, at promotional prices, the "Iohannis" pizza, which had Sibiu salami as its special ingredient. The owner decided to sell four pizzas for 54.50 lei, the score that Klaus Iohannis got in the elections.

November 20th - poll

Confidence in Klaus Iohannis has increased after the presidential elections, from 25% prior to the ballot, to 61%, according to a survey by the IRES, conducted over phone on November 20th.

Whereas prior to his election, only 24% citizens thought that Romania was going in the right direction, after the results of the second round were posted, that number had almost doubled.

Thus, according to the IRES poll, over half of Romanians, 55%, believe that Romania is heading in the right direction.

The IRES poll also shows that "the main effect of the presidential elections is an increase in optimism, and particularly of the global indicator concerning the direction that the country is headed in."

The IRES poll was made on a sample of 1,338 people, aged over 18, on November 20th, and it has a margin of error of ±2.7%.

November 21st

On Naşul TV, Grigore Cartianu and Robert Turcescu played a duet together, in German, after ACL candidate, Klaus Iohannis, won the presidential elections. During this time the host of the show danced around holding his head in his hands.

November 24th

Klaus Iohannis agreed to play a demo match with Simona Halep, in Sibiu, in order to promote tennis among Romanian youth.

- The autobiographic book "Step by step", written by Romanian elect president, Klaus Iohannis, was the absolute bestseller at the Gaudeamus - Educational Book International Fair. In the three days that it was available at the stand of Curtea Veche Publishing, it sold 7,912 copies. "It is an unprecedented fact in the history of the fair for a book to sell almost 8,000 copies. The bar has been raised very high for the next fairs", says Iren Arsene Mate, manager of Curtea Veche Publishing, who added: "The president has chosen books, as his tool for communication, during the electoral campaign, and afterwards. Together with the message conveyed on the first day of the fair - < culture will save us! > -, the attention that Klaus Iohannis has directed towards reading gives up hope that we can make up some of the gap that separates us from Europe in that regard".

Over 3,500 people have attended the launch, and 4,000 copies were sold, which caused the first print run of the book to be sold out. The president elect did not leave the fair until he had finished signing autographs for all the people who had waited patiently to meet him for several hours, which caused the organizers to extend the schedule by more than one hour.

The launch of the book is considered an editorial phenomenon in terms of the number of participants and of the number of copies sold at a book fair within such a short delay.

The president's book was available at the fair in a new print run starting on Saturday, November 22nd, and on Sunday, it received the Gaudeamus Award, for the most wanted book of the fair, as voted by the public. Upon receiving the award, the head of Curtea Veche Publishing stated that a new edition of "Step by step" is coming, which will include behind-the-scenes details from the campaign and the first part of the presidential term.