Victor Ponta loses to Klaus Iohannis in Romania’s presidential run-off

Ponta had comfortably beaten his opponent in the first round and had led opinion polls since then

Victor Ponta, 42 and a former amateur rally driver, says he will cut taxes and raise penions (EPA)

Romania’s prime minister was defeated late tonight by an ethnic German-Transylvanian mayor in a photo-finish presidential run-off.

Speaking outside the HQ of his Social Democratic party after polls closed, Victor Ponta said: “We are a democratic country. The people are always right.”

Victor Ponta had comfortably beaten his opponent, centre-right mayor Klaus Iohannis, in the first round on 2 November and had led opinion polls since then.

But Mr Ponta was narrowly edged out by Mr Iohannis, who had promised to crack down on corruption.

Mr Ponta called on some 15,000 protesters gathered outside his offices in Bucharest to listen to his conciliatory message, in an attempt to defuse tensions after expat Romanians faced voting difficulties abroad.