Leftist Social Democrats win Romania elections, ultranationalist party enters Parliament

Foto: Inquam Photos / Sabin Cirstoveanu

Romania’s opposition Social Democrats  have won parliamentary elections, on a wave of discontent over the coronavirus pandemic and the minority Liberal government’s commitment to cut spending, partial results show.

With about 96% of the votes counted, the left-leaning Social Democrats won 29.7% of votes and the center-right Liberals of Prime Minister Ludovic Orban 25.57%.

However, neither party has enough votes to form a majority and the Social Democrats will likely struggle to find allies. The progressive USR-Plus alliance, which is a likely coalition partner for the Liberals came third winning 15.5% of votes.

The biggest surprise of the elections was the election of a newcomer to Parliament. The ultranationalist  Alliance for Uniting Romanians won about 9%.

The count does not include some  265,000 votes cast by Romanians living abroad.

The ethnic Hungarian party, the UDMR scored about 6%. Other parties failed to get more than 5%.

The indecisive result, which came after historically low turnout, will complicate post-election negotiations.

LĂSAȚI UN MESAJ

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