Romania is gearing up to hold a presidential election redo next month, a high-stakes test for the European Union member’s democracy after last year’s annulled vote triggered the country’s deepest political crisis since 1989.

He shook Romania’s political landscape in November when he secured the first round in the presidential election, going from an obscure candidate to beating the incumbent prime minister.

Romania’s leftist Social Democratic Party has withdrawn from negotiations to form a pro-European coalition government, extending political turmoil that has gripped the European Union country after a top court annulled a presidential election.