Romanian centrist and leftist parties looked to have fended off a surge by the nationalist right in the country’s parliamentary election, as attention turns to a top court ruling on whether to annul the results of a presidential vote.
Romania, a European Union and NATO member, was thrown into turmoil by a shock result in the first round of the presidential vote on November 24. A little-known far-right candidate surged to victory, raising suspicions of outside meddling in the electoral process of a country that has been a staunch ally of Ukraine.
Romania’s Constitutional Court ordered a recount of the first round vote and is due to announce its decision later on Monday on whether or not to validate the results of the presidential ballot.
If the court approves the result, independent far-right candidate, Calin Georgescu will face centre-right contender Elena Lasconi in a run-off vote on December 8.
Romanian electoral authority chief Toni Grebla said on Monday the recount of 9.46 million votes cast in the first round did not yield major differences.
Romanian authorities say the country is a key target for hostile actors such as Russia, and have accused video streaming platform TikTok of giving preferential treatment to one candidate. Both Russia and TikTok deny any wrongdoing.
Sunday’s parliamentary election, the second of three ballots scheduled over a period of as many weeks, saw the ruling leftist Social Democrat (PSD) party come first, setting the stage for what is likely to be a period of coalition forming with centrist parties.
“We want a coalition that will continue Romania’s European course,” Social Democrat Vice President Victor Negrescu was quoted as saying by the website of Stirile Pro TV.
“We expect the democratic, pro-European parties to understand that the Social Democratic Party can be the balancing factor around which a future majority can be formed.”
With 99.97 per cent of votes counted in the parliamentary ballot, the PSD had won 22.3 per cent of votes, ahead of the hard-right Alliance for Uniting Romanians with 18.3 per cent.
Lasconi’s centrist opposition Save Romania Union (USR) had 12.3 per cent, while the junior ruling coalition ally Liberals had 14.3 per cent. Two far-right groupings, SOS and POT, had 7.8 per cent and 6.4 per cent, respectively, and the ethnic Hungarian Party UDMR 6.4 per cent.
Liberal leader Ilie Bolojan said the party was “willing to participate in… a coalition so that we can be a modernising factor for our country”.
However, who gets to form the government will ultimately depend on who wins the presidential race, since the president designates a prime minister, and the timeline for that is unclear.
This means Georgescu could potentially be in a position to give far-right parties, who together won over 30 per cent of the vote, the chance to form a government.
The leader of the far-right SOS grouping, Diana Sosoaca, appealed for unity among the nationalist parties.
“I call on all patriotic, sovereigntist, nationalist forces to come together and form a nationalist government, even a minority one,” she was quoted as saying by the website of Digi 24 TV.
https://thewest.com.au/politics/romanian-left-wins-vote-amid-presidential-uncertainty-c-16952480
